Michael Scott Moore, an American-German journalist, has spoken publicly for the first time about his 977-day captivity at the hands of Somali pirates. Moore was kidnapped in 2012 while on assignment in Somalia, where he had travelled to research a book about the piracy trial of a gang that had attempted to hijack the German cargo ship MV Taipan.
Moore flew to Somalia in early 2012 with Indian-born filmmaker Ashwin Raman. Their security was arranged through Mohammed Sahal Gerlach, a Somali elder from Galkacyo, a town known as a pirate supply hub. The pair spent ten days reporting, including an interview with a pirate leader called Mustaf Mohammed Sheikh in the coastal town of Hobyo, who claimed to be at war with the West.
When Raman was due to leave, Moore accompanied him to the airport despite misgivings. Gerlach had assured them of safety, arranging a car from a regional president with an armed guard. But the journalists had already been targeted: months later, a pirate showed Moore a photo of him pulled from an old New York Times interview.
Moore was taken captive and held in a dirty villa in Galkacyo, though the pirates had told him he was near the coast in Haradheere. He recognised the airport from a previous visit. During his detention, he considered seizing a guard's rifle but stopped himself, and a guard named Bashko warned him that if the Americans came, he would be killed. Ransom demands were made but Moore later noted that pirates “just want to buy khat”, a stimulant.
After 977 days, Moore was eventually released. He has now told the full story of his abduction, detention and release, describing the psychological toll of prolonged captivity and the constant fear of violence.
