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| Breaking: Tensions rise in Africa over hijacked ships - |
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Eliza
 Posted:
Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:56 pm |
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Breaking: Tensions rise in Africa over hijacked ships
Tensions rise.
LINK
September 29, 2008
Tensions Rise Over Ship Hijacked Off Somalia
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
NAIROBI, Kenya — Tensions increased Sunday over what to do about the arms-carrying cargo ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia, as the pirates vowed to fight to the death, a hostage died and Somali officials urged the American Navy to send in commandos.
According to a broadcast on the BBC Somali service, the pirates said that they could see an American destroyer nearby and several military aircraft tracking them, but that they were not afraid.
“They can’t catch us like goats,” said a man who said he was a spokesman for the pirates. “We will fight, and everyone here will die with us.”
The man said he was speaking on a satellite phone from the bridge of the hijacked Ukrainian ship, and to prove it, he handed the phone to another man who said he was the captain. The captain, a Ukrainian, then told the BBC that a Russian crew member had died from hypertension.
A band of pirates hijacked the ship on Thursday evening as it was heading to Kenya with a large supply of arms, including 33 T-72 battle tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition, all for the Kenyan military.
Somali officials said Sunday that the ship was anchored a few miles off the coast between Xarardheere and Hobyo, two notorious pirate dens where several other hijacked vessels have been taken. The pirates said they would not release the 20 crew members or the arms until they were paid $20 million in cash.
Somali officials said there might be no way to resolve the standoff other than storming the ship.
“A military operation has to be taken,” said Ahmed Said Aw-nur, minister of fisheries for the semiautonomous state of Puntland in northern Somalia. “If the Islamists get the arms,” he said, referring to Islamist insurgents currently waging war on Somalia’s weak government, “they will cause problems for all of Somalia.”
The minister suggested that American or European commandos be used because “Somalia clearly doesn’t have the capability.”
American military officials said that they were closely watching the ship but that there were no plans to raid it.
“We’re deeply concerned about what’s aboard, as well as the safety of the crew,” said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. “We’re hoping the arms don’t make it to shore.”
Lieutenant Christensen said the American destroyer Howard was following the hijacked ship from less than five miles away and communicating with it via bridge-to-bridge radio.
It was unclear what might happen next. A Western diplomat in Nairobi said that “a red line had been crossed” and that there was little chance that the ransom would be paid after the hijacking had attracted so much attention.
“Nobody’s going to let them get away with this,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
But another Western diplomat said it would be incredibly risky to try to free the hostages by force.
“How are you going to storm a ship with all those explosives and 20 or more human shields?” said the diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. “It could be very, very messy.”
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Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: Deep in the hills with my Bible, rifle, and pony.
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| Eliza
Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:45 am |
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From Tass:
MOSCOW, September 29 (Itar-Tass) -- The Neustrashimy patrol ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet will ensure the security of Russian vessels traversing offshore Somalia, Russian Navy Assistant Commander Capt. 1st Class Igor Dygalo told Itar-Tass.
“The Navy commander has ordered the Baltic Fleet to send the Neutrashimy patrol ship to the Somalia zone. The patrol ship led by Capt. 1st Class Oleg Gurinov left the port of Baltiisk on September 24,” he said.
“Russia will continue to send its ships to risky areas in order to protect Russian citizens and to ensure safe navigation,” Dygalo said.
Twenty-four pirate attacks on vessels of various countries were registered offshore Somalia in the first seven months of this year. The UN World Food Program asked maritime countries to protect ships, which carry humanitarian aid to Somalia. Warships of France, Denmark and the Netherlands were performing the mission in the previous eight months. A Canadian frigate was sent on the same mission on August 6.
The Neutrashimy is a patrol ship of 1154 series. It is a multifunctional vessel capable of anti-sub, anti-ship and anti-aircraft support. The ship carries the Vodopad-NK missile and torpedo system and has the displacement of over 4,000 tonnes. Its navigation range is about 3,000 miles. The ship has a crew of 210.
Navigation along Somalia has become extremely dangerous because of pirate attacks. Early last week France called for international cooperation in the suppression of piracy. No less than eight piracy incidents have occurred near Somalia since late July. There were 24 attacks in the first six months of this year.
The German Navy will assign three patrol ships and several combat cutters for deterring pirates offshore Kenya and Somalia, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said an interview published by last Sunday issue of the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt.
He said the operation would require authorization of the European Union.
Jung expects a decision to be made this year. “We cannot put up with the intensifying piracy. We conduct 80% of our trade by sea,” he said.
German laws permit naval vessels engaged in the anti-terrorist mission offshore Somalia to help ships attacked by pirates.
The coastal waters of Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria and Brazil have become infamous for piracy. There are also pirates in the South China Sea, near Hong Kong and in the Strait of Malacca. More than 500 pirate attacks are registered annually, the German Ship Owners Union said.
Six Somalia pirates, who took two French citizens hostage in the Gulf of Aden on September 2, were brought to France onboard a military plane early last week.
The hostages were set free and the pirates were seized in a successful operation of the French marines in the small morning hours of September 16.
According to unofficial sources, the pirates wanted $2 million in ransom. They may be charged with the illegal seizure of a ship, abduction and the formation of an organized criminal group. Some of these charges are sufficient for life in jail.
The Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine and Island Policy announced last Sunday a pirate attack on a Greek vessel offshore Somalia.
The Captain Stephanos vessel, which belongs to a Greek company and flies a Panamanian flag, has a crew of 19 Philippine sailors, one Chinese and one Ukrainian.
The attack occurred 250 nautical miles away from the Somalia coast, the ministry said. The Chart World Shipping Corporation is the ship owner.
That was the second Greek ship attacked by pirates near Somalia during the week. Another ship carrying 25 people onboard was attacked on September 18.
On Thursday Somalia pirates seized the Faina ship with a crew of 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one Latvian. The ship was carrying 33 T-72 tanks, plenty of munitions and other armaments, among them grenade launchers to Kenya.
In the words of Ukrainian Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, the pirates seized the cargo that belonged Urkinmash, a subsidiary of Urkspetsexport.
The Faina flying the Belize flag was en route from Oktyabrsk in the Ukrainian Nikolayev region to the Kenyan Mombasa. The vessel was moving by a recommended route, rather far from the Somalia coast, he said.
A U.S. warship has come close to the Ukrainian ship Faina seized by Somalia pirates. Local authorities explained the move with the wish to prevent the unloading the weaponry from the Faina. The pirates asked for $5 million ransom. They warned though that any attempts to resolve the problem by force would lead to the death of the Faina crewmembers and further unpredictable consequences.
It is still unclear who is negotiating with the pirates. The Kenyan government said it would not be responsible for the cargo until it was unloaded. This means that the Ukrainian side must negotiate the release of the crew, the ship and the weaponry.
One of the three Russian crewmembers of the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina seized by Somalia pirates has died, Associated Press said with the reference to a satellite phone conversation with the captain, Viktor Nikolsky.
The captain said that the Russian died of high blood pressure. “Other crewmembers are all right,” he said.
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Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: Deep in the hills with my Bible, rifle, and pony.
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| Eliza
Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:52 am |
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Islamist insurgents attack African peacekeepers
Four killed in Somalia fighting: witnesses
25 minutes ago
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali Islamist insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers and government forces in the capital Mogadishu, and at least four people were killed in the clashes, witnesses said Monday.
Two civilians and a soldier died in an attack overnight near the presidential palace, Villa Baidoa, they said.
"Three people, one of them a Somali government soldier, died near Villa Baidoa when two mortar shells struck buildings," said Hamad Ali Ahmed, a witness.
Another civilian died in crossfire in southern Mogadishu's Holwadag district, bringing the death toll to four. At least seven others were wounded, residents said.
Islamist rebels confirmed they first attacked the base hosting African Union, Somali and Ethiopian troops.
"We attacked the bases of Ugandan forces, Ethiopians and the Somali stooges. Five of our men were wounded, but they sustained heavy casualties," Islamist commander Mohamed Mohamud Dulyadeyn told AFP.
Ethiopian troops intervened to prop up the feeble Somali government at the end of 2006 and eventually drove the Islamists from much of the country's southern and central regions, where they had established Sharia law.
Since then, the Islamists have killed numerous government officials and vowed to fight until the Ethiopians, whom they regard as occupiers, withdraw.
Somalia has lacked a functional government since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous peace initiatives.
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Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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