Q&A - Who are the Somali pirates?

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - It took the capture and rescue five days later of an American hostage to draw world attention back to the long-running phenomenon of Somali piracy.

The pirates also grabbed headlines last year for the world's largest sea hijack -- a Saudi supertanker carrying oil worth $100 million -- and the seizure of a Ukrainian ship with a huge military cargo including 33 tanks.

Away from the international limelight, the gangs have been striking regularly for years. After the rescue of U.S. ship captain Richard Phillips, they still hold about 260 hostages, including nearly 100 Filipinos, on 17 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 fleets from Europe and Asia.

* Towards 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 ships, those groups metamorphosed this decade into old-fashioned pirate gangs, becoming ever more sophisticated in methods and bold in range.