Q&A: Who are the Somali pirates?

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - It has taken the capture of an American hostage to swing world attention once again toward the long-running phenomenon of Somali piracy.

The pirates were also in the international limelight in 2008 for the world's largest sea hijack -- a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million of oil -- and the capture of a Ukrainian ship with a huge military cargo including 33 tanks.

Away from the spotlight, the pirates have been striking regularly for years. As well as American ship captain Richard Phillips, they are now holding about 250 other hostages, including 92 Filipinos, on 16 captured vessels.

So who are these modern-day buccaneers?

HOW DID THEY START?

* When warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia collapsed into anarchy. That led to a wave of illegal fishing, plus dumping of toxic and industrial waste, in Somali waters by foreign boats from Asia and Europe.

* Toward the end of the decade, local fishermen and militia formed groups with names like the "Somali Coastguards" and the "National Volunteer Coastguards," to drive away or apprehend the vessels from South Korea, Italy, Spain, Thailand and elsewhere.

* Seeing how easy it was to capture vessels, those groups metamorphosed this decade into old-fashioned pirate gangs, becoming ever more sophisticated in methods and bold in range.