Ah, like the sentence right before that which stated they were pirates? You think I referred to north africa holding power from its pirating entities as some kind of Disney movie piracy? Anyone who has any sense of piracy in a historical context knows they thieve, pillage, kill, rape, enslave. Besides, you say it as if the north african states uniquely employed slavery, this was a time of a giant slave trade by European countries in Africa, Asia and South America, if I'd have said the colonial Netherlands controlled important trade routes and trade hubs, would you have added the snarky comment as well?