COUNTER-PIRACY UPDATES
STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra - 31. August 2011)
PROTECTING AND MONITORING LIFE, BIODIVERSITY AND THE ECOSYSTEM IN SOMALIA AND ITS SEAS SINCE 1986 - ECOTERRA Intl.
ECOTERRA Intl. and ECOP-marine serve concerning the counter-piracy issues as advocacy groups in their capacity as human rights, marine and maritime monitors as well as in co-operation with numerous other organizations, groups and individuals as information clearing-house. In difficult cases we have successfully served as mediators.
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STATUS-SUMMARY:
Today, 31. August 2011 at 21h15 UTC, at least 33 larger plus 18 smaller foreign vessels plus one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 558 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple as well as a Danish yacht-family with three children and two friends - suffer to be released.
But even EU NAVFOR, who mostly only counts high-value, often British insured vessels, admitted now that many dozens of vessels were sea-jacked despite their multi-million Euro efforts to protect shipping.
Having come under pressure, EU NAVFOR's operation ATALANTA felt now compelled to publish their updated piracy facts for those vessels, which EU NAVFOR admits had not been protected from pirates and were abducted. EU NAVFOR also admitted in February 2011 for the first time that actually a larger number of vessels and crews is held hostage than those listed on their file.
Since EU NAVFOR's inception at the end of 2008 the piracy off Somalia started in earnest and it has now completely escalated. Only knowledgeable analysts recognized the link.
Please see the situation map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA (2011) and the CPU-ARCHIVE
ECOTERRA members can also request the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor for background info.
- see also HELD HOSTAGE BY PIRATES OFF SOMALIA
and don't forget that SOMALI PIRACY IS CUT-THROAT CAPITALISM
WHAT THE NAVIES OFF SOMALIA NEVER SEE:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/fighting_for_control_of_somali.html
What Foreign Soldiers in Somalia and even their Officers Never Seem to Realize:
The Scramble For Somalia
PEACE KEEPERS OR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTS ?
SG Ban Ki-Moon (UN) and President Ram Baran Yadav (Nepal) should resign and take the responsibility for 4,500 Haitians having been killed by a Cholera strain introduced by unchecked, so-called UN Peace-Keepers from Nepal into Haiti.
LATEST:
STILL OVER 550 SEAFARERS ARE HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !
ECOTERRA Intl. has been the first group to clearly and publicly state that the piracy phenomenon off the Somali coasts can only become an issue of the past again, if tangible and sustainable, appropriate and holistic development for the coastal communities kicks in. Solutions to piracy have to tackle the root causes: Abhorrent poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, outside interference. While still billions are spend for the navies, for the general militarization or for mercenaries or conferences, still no real and financially substantial help is coming forward to pacify and develop the coastal areas of Somalia.
Updates on known cases of piracy - pls see also below this latest news in the status section.
CAPTAIN OF ALGERIAN HOSTAGE VESSEL IN SOMALIA CALLS FOR HELP (ecop-marine)
As the holy month of Ramadhan closed with Eid al Fitr celebrations in the Muslim world, the Ukrainian captain of MV BLIDA, held by Somali pirates since over 8 months, reached out to a humanitarian organization for help, because the crew has no more food, no medicine and no clean water.
Most of the crew suffer from high fever due to unknown infections, the captain stated, and he fears that some might have caught a Malaria while no appropriate medical help is provided. Captain Valentin stated to the regional office of ECOTERRA Intl. that he hadn't heard anything about any ongoing negotiations for their release, which allegedly were near a conclusion as the Greek management company stated to Ukrainian diplomatic offices.
ECOTERRA Intl. had already earlier appealed to the elders of the pirate gang holding this vessel to ensure that ship and crew are released without conditions in solidarity with the people of Tunisia, who since long have good relations with Somalia, at present struggle for their own freedom and host many people fleeing from Libya.
The governments of Tunisia and Greece as well as the ombudsman for human rights of the Ukrainian parliament have now been informed about the grave situation of the Ukrainian nationals as well as the other hostages on board of that vessel in order to establish the truth concerning the efforts by the Greek management or the Tunisian owner to secure the release of the vessel, because the Tunisian owner's hands seem to be bound by the Tunisian policy, which stands against any ransom payment, and the captain stated that he had not heard from the Greek management company for a long time (see details below). Allegedly the negotiations broke down one month ago, and family members of the Tunisian seafarers among the crew held demonstrations against the inactivity of their government, while their next of kin had to observe a sad Ramadhan in a hostage situation - suffering from a crime, which is outlawed by all teachings of the Holy Quran.
Since also only minimal generator fuel is left on the vessel and the captain can only for very short periods of time communicate by HF radio transceiver and satellite phone with the outside world, no Eid al Fitr greetings from the families reached the desperate crew. The emergency call came after two Greek vessels were released against a ransom during the last week and one of them, MV POLAR, already reached a safe harbour at Salalah in Oman.
The MV BLIDA and her crew are at present held off the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia between Garacad and Ceel Dhanaane, while the pirates still demand a multi-million dollar ransom for the release.
Unsuccessful Piracy Attack
Five pirates armed with guns in two skiffs approached on 29.08.2011 at 06h55 UTC in position 12:30.25N – 043:52.37E a chemical tanker underway in the Gulf of Aden.. Master raised alarm, gave one long blast and crew mustered at a safe place, the PMC reported. When the skiffs came close to 15 metres from the tanker, the onboard security team fired warning shots resulting in the pirates aborting the attack.
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Italy / Somalia / The Foreign Ministry continues efforts to secure the release of the ship Savina Caylin (StarAfrica/APO)
In the months that have passed since the abduction of the ship Savina Caylin on
8 February 2011 in the Indian Ocean, through its Crisis Unit the foreign ministry has been maintaining contact with the families of the kidnapped crew members and with the vessel's owner, informing them of the intense and detailed diplomatic efforts under way for its release. These efforts are, nevertheless, taking place within a constantly changing scenario that includes dozens of other ships of all nationalities – including another Italian ship, the Rosalia D'Amato, which was taken in the same area in
April 2011.
The Somali authorities are being pressured to do everything possible to resolve the situation. With a view to underscoring those efforts, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Alfredo Mantica travelled to Somalia to meet with President of the Somali government Sharmanke(SIC !) and President of Puntland, Farole. Secondly, considering the regional dimension of the problem, the Foreign Minister's Special Representative for Humanitarian Emergencies, Margherita Boniver, was also sent to meet with the authorities of Tanzania and Djibouti, countries known for their efforts to combat piracy. Italian diplomats are also raising the issue and soliciting interest in the Savina Caylin case in all possible international occasions and encounters. On Minister Frattini's initiative, Italy has also proposed that the theme of piracy be discussed in New York in a summit on Somalia to be jointly organized by Italy, the UK and Uganda in the margins of the next UN General Assembly in September.
The Italian government, through its Defence Ministry, has also sent military vessels involved in the Atalanta and Ocean Shield missions to monitor the ship and the gather information on the conditions of the crew.
In compliance with the explicit request of the families of the hostages, the Italian government has avoided any sort of military action that could endanger them.
In light of such efforts to resolve the situation, the Italian government cannot entertain the possibility of direct negotiations with the pirates, much less of paying a ransom for their release, which is expressly forbidden by law, beginning with the UN resolution ruling out any governmental act whatsoever that encourages piracy.
The foreign ministry fully understands the anguish of the families and assures that it is doing everything within its power to secure the release of the Savina Caylin, underscoring the importance that all those involved in the affair maintain the maximum reserve, which has proved an essential element in the resolution of previous cases of abduction.
[N.B.: If APO, the African Press Organization, obviously does not even know who the president of Somalia is with whom Italian minister Mantica allegedly met, then such articles need to be taken with a grain of salt - at least!] GULF-SPIN ON PIRACY:Piracy wave set to hit households in the GCC By Derek Baldwin (GulfNews)
Higher insurance premiums charged by marine underwriters will inevitably raise shipping costs of essentials Dubai: The cost of GCC household goods may be on the rise as shipping companies pass along to consumers a 300-fold increase in emergency insurance premiums - per voyage - to ply pirate-infested waters, experts say.
A rash of attacks on bulk carrier ships by rocket-toting Somali pirates has prompted London insurance authorities to list the eastern coastal areas of the Arab peninsula as 'War Risk' zones, prompting some marine underwriters to boost their insurance coverage from $500 (Dh1,836) per voyage to GCC countries up to $150,000 per trip by some accounts.
Gulf countries such as the UAE are highly dependent on the daily shipments of perishable foods, electronics, clothing and household goods from Europe and Asia and are vulnerable to the trickle-down effects of higher shipping costs.
The UAE alone received Dh485.4 billion in imports in 2010 which translated into roughly 318,000 tonnes per day entering the country, according to the Federal Customs Authority.
Anna Bowden, programme manager of One Earth Future, said that new emergency surcharges imposed by insurance companies on ships traversing the listed war-risk zones of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman will push the prices of goods higher.
Emergency surcharges "Emergency surcharges do get passed along," Bowden told
Gulf News from the Louisville, Colorado offices of One Earth Future. "It does certainly go down the supply chain. The consumers pay a little more."
Bowden, co-author of Oceans Beyond Piracy report, estimates that piracy is costing the international community from $7 billion to $12 billion a year.
Research so far by Bowden suggests that the added cost per item shipped due to added insurance surcharges — a kind of pirate ocean toll — varies widely "anywhere from two cents to a dollar more".
There is no avoiding the shipping surcharges because any "ship that travels through a war zone… has to have war risk cover".
In the Oceans Beyond Piracy report, Bowden noted that "the cost of war-risk premiums has increased 300-fold from $500 per ship, per voyage; to up to $150,000 per ship, per voyage in 2010."
Cargo insurance, the report noted, has also shot up $25 to $100 per container while it's been estimated "that piracy has doubled the cost of hull insurance".
In 2010, Bowden estimates in the report that insurance premiums to protect ships and cargo from Somali pirates ranged from $460 million to $3.2 billion.
An estimated 30,000 ships transit the Gulf of Aden every year.
Further estimates in the report suggest that shipping companies pay an additional $363 million to $2.5 billion a year — or $134,000 for each ship on each voyage — to protect the ship using security guards ($80,000), electric fences ($40,000) and barbed or razor wire ($12,000).
To make matters worse, Bowden noted that ransoms paid out by shipping companies are growing at a phenomenal rate over years past in order to secure the release of ship, crew and cargo.
"In November 2010, the highest ransom on record, $9.5 million, was paid to Somali pirates to release the Samho Dream, a South Korean oil tanker," Bowden wrote in the report.
The 300,000-tonne supertanker was hijacked in April last year, carrying an estimated $170 million worth of crude oil owned by American refiner Valero Energy, was en route to the United States from Iraq. The pirates managed to outrun a South Korean Navy destroyer which pursued the tanker.
The Samho Dream is now lying temporarily abandoned in Dubai waters after Dubai authorities reported last week that the supertanker's owners, Samho Shipping, had filed for bankruptcy and that efforts were under way to return the ship to its home country. A sister tanker Samho Crown is also reportedly stranded in Dubai waters.
Bowden said higher ransom demands are being met by ship owners year on year.
"In 2005, ransoms averaged around $150,000. By 2009, the average ransom was around $3.4 million. In 2010, ransoms are predicted to average around $5.4 million."
There were 52 successful hijackings in 2009 resulting in $177 million in total ransoms paid to Somali pirates. In 2010, although the number of hijackings dropped to 44, total ransoms paid rose to $238 million.
Crews that are hijacked and imprisoned in Somalia now face three to four months in captivity as negotiations take longer to settle before a ship is released.
Downtime costs Downtime for ships out of service after a hijacking also cost shipping companies even more money, Bowden said in the report, with estimates that it costs "around $3 million for a cargo ship to be held for two months at a charter hire of $50,000 per day."
While the report offers numbers, Bowden notes that the cost of piracy in the report is "not a definitive figure, but rather intended to be continually developed, adapted and improved."
Neil Roberts, senior executive — underwriting at Lloyds Market Association, told Gulf News from London that some figures seem a little off.
"The global hull premium, according to International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) statistics, is $6.6 billion — OBP [Oceans Beyond Piracy] reckoned war premiums alone were $4.5 billion which is simply unrealistic. Additionally, the war market is exceptionally competitive and discounts of 50 per cent for no claims are usual. Further discounts are given for what many would argue is common-sense security," Roberts said.
"It is very difficult to give exact numbers but the best estimate — as we told the House of Commons inquiry — is that losses certainly exceed premiums and relevant premiums were estimated at £110 million (Dh660.30 million) for UK. Interestingly, the cost of naval support far outweighs any premiums and losses."
FP Marine Risks states that any vessel sailing into a war risk area must discuss additional insurance premiums with their underwriters within 48 hours of entering the zone as identified by the Joint War Committee in London, a body that represents insurers such as Lloyd's of London. The committee decided in December 2010 to add the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman to the JWC's Hull War, Strikes, Terrorism and Related Perils list.
Yudhishthir D. Khatau, managing director of Varun Shipping, told Bloomberg in June that his company is shelling out an additional $70,000 per voyage for each ship in a fleet of 16 that transports goods between the Middle East and India.
"The extra cost is harming us very seriously," he said.
Outlaws extend operations Latest numbers released by the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre suggest that while attacks along the Somalia coast have dropped, the decline may be at the expense of other coastal regions nearby in Arab waters.
A live piracy map provided by the IMB on its website shows that the lion's share of reports of hijackings, attacks and suspicious ships are being recorded along the Omani coastline and hundreds of kilometres into the open seas of the Indian Ocean.
Using larger mother ships and smaller skiffs to attack slower-moving bulk carriers, pirates are spreading their tentacles into open waters where they can visit harm upon victim ships away from the patrolling military ships of two combined international navy task forces.
In the Arabian Sea and off Oman, the IMB said increasing incidents in that area are "believed to be Somali pirates extending their attack areas".
To date this year, the IMB reports there have been 178 pirate attacks in the region, 22 of which resulted in hijackings. Seven crew members were killed and 362 sailors have been taken hostage.
An IMB report released last month suggested that two-thirds of 266 pirate attacks globally so far this year were carried out by Somali pirates.
"In the last six months, Somali pirates attack more vessels than ever before and they're taking higher risks," Pottengal Mukundan, IMB director, said in a statement, adding that "many of the attacks have been east and northeast of the Gulf of Aden, an area frequented by crude oil tankers sailing from the Arabian Gulf as well as other traffic sailing into the Gulf of Aden."
One of the most recent attacks near Arabian Gulf waters transpired on August 20 when pirates boarded the Fairchem Bogey within three kilometres of the Omani port of Salalah, weighed anchor, and disappeared.
The EU's naval force (Eunavfor) confirmed the hijacking, noting the ship, a Marshall Islands chemical tanker of 52,455 tonnes with 21 hands aboard, was taken to the Somali coast.
Riad Kahwaji, founder and CEO of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis based in Dubai, said tens of millions of dollars in ransoms may be helping Somali pirates create a sophisticated intelligence network that is helping them expand their reach.
"To go this close to the shore of Oman when there are at least two task forces, this shows boldness and confidence," Kahwaji told Gulf News. "Obviously, there are people on shore providing them [pirates] with intell."
A superior underground information pipeline would explain why "dozens of destroyers, corvettes and patrols in the Gulf of Aden and seas off Oman are not able to pick them up," he said. "There is serious intelligence failure on behalf of the alliance forces."
Paid informants on shore, Kahwaji speculated, are feeding the pirate network with real-time data detailing the manifests of ships, departure times and even the intended destinations of commercial vessels. Pirates, he said, "are getting a lot of intelligence to help them do what they want. There is enough money to build a sophisticated system of control."
To defeat the pirates, Kahwaji said authorities need to strike the central nervous system of the pirates.
"You have to have counter-intelligence, a serious joint effort," he said. "They need to track the chain of intell and see how it is moving, then take it out."
UAE spares no effort Authorities in the UAE have done more than just talk about crushing the growing tide of piracy in Arab waters.
The UAE has taken a hardline approach against piracy in recent months through military action, a pledge of financial support and front line negotiations for the release of a UAE-owned oil tanker.
"The UAE has done quite a bit. It is the only country here [in the GCC] to rescue a hijacked ship," said Riad Kahwaji, founder and CEO of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
In early April, Emirati military forces bested pirates after the hijacking of the Arrilah-1, a 37,000-tonne bulk carrier under the ownership of government-operated Abu Dhabi National Tanker.
"The operation was carried out in a very professional manner. It was quick, accurate and decisive with no causalities or damage to property," Lt Col Abdullah Al Dhaheri of the UAE Armed Forces told WAM at the time.
Ten Somali pirates were taken into custody to face prosecution.
Two weeks later, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, told delegates at an Abu Dhabi counter-piracy conference that the Emirates would donate $1 million (Dh3.67 million) to a UN fund to fight piracy.
More recently, the UAE's National Transport Authority (NTA) confirmed that UAE oil tanker Jubba XX — hijacked July 16 in Yemen waters — was released July 27 by pirates off the coast of Somalia and that its crew members were safe.
The NTA said, "Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works and Chairman of the National Transport Authority, issued his directives to follow up the Jubba XX kidnapping; ensure the safety of its crew; and communicate with its owners."
[N.B.: Are they not ashamed of such blatant lies?] Owned by Sharjah-based Jubba General Trading Company, the ship was released by pirates, the NTA said in a statement, "without any concessions or payments due to the good reputation of the UAE and its cordial relations with all countries."
Police monitoring pirates-linked company By Dominic Wabala (NairobiStar) Security and intelligence organisations including the Kenya Police are keenly monitoring the operations of a foreign-led company in Nairobi accused of delivering ransom money to pirates in war-torn Somalia. Both international and local intelligence and security organisations don't know whether to treat Salama Fikira Ltd as a pirates' accomplice or a strategic partner who will give them information on the faces behind spiralling piracy.
A representative of the company who responded to a call on mobile number
+254715453396 said he had no comment on their operations in Somalia. "I won't comment on something like that. On that I can only say no comment," the representative replied. He was responding to a question about their botched operation to deliver US $3.6 million to pirates in May and their subsequent arrest and detention by Somalia Government officials.
The company is reported to offer crisis and emergency project management for international shipping companies, risk audit, advice and mitigation for corporate clients including resource exploration, security project management, guide and protection services for visitors to the region and management of reconciliation and disarmament workshops to its East African, Indian Ocean islands, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region.
The company, two Mombasa-based shipping firms and three Kenyan airlines are allegedly often used to fuel and restock hijacked and released ships and deliver ransom. "We are aware of their presence in the country and the arrest of some of their people in Somalia while allegedly delivering ransom," said a senior police officer who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. "At present we are watching them. I know they are being monitored but we don't know whether they should be treated as strategic partners or accomplices to pirates."
He added: "There is very little they do here and we want to know whether they are the ones who approach pirates when the ships are hijacked or are approached by shipowners. We are not the only ones interested in them." The company has reportedly been operating from Nairobi Business Park of Ngong Road next to the Jockey Club and is run by Kenyan-born former British Royal Marine, Conrad Thorpe, and Rob Andrew, a former British Army Special Air Service (SAS) officer.
Andrew served for three years as UK's Regional Counter-Terrorism adviser and manages Britain's peace-building capacity programmes in Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and the Indian Ocean islands. There are six employees and pilots including an American, two Britons and two Kenyans working for the security company arrested on
May 24, 2011 by Somalia Transnational Federal Government officials at Aden Adde International Airport with duffel bags containing $3.6 million after flying from Nairobi to deliver 'humanitarian aid' in two Wilson Airport based aircraft.
The aircraft, a Cessna Citation jet and Cessna Caravan, are reported to have transitted through Mogadishu Airport four previous times on unspecified missions. The Britons arrested were identified as Andrew Oaks and Alex James. The money was said to be for payment of ransom for two pirate-held ships namely MV Suez and MV Yuan Xiang but was seized by the Somalia government and deposited to the Central Bank of Somalia.
Although the six and the two aircraft were later released, the money remains seized by Somalia authorities. The company boasts of having Ac 130 Hercules aircraft, up to five Boeing 737S, four Cessna Citation Bravo jets, four Beechcraft King Airs, three Cessna Caravans and a Eurocopter to assist it in its operations. The company says that these are well positioned to respond to short notice requirements like conducting emergency and medical evacuation, logistical re-supply of both passengers and freight, air drop resupply and reconnaissance.
According to its website, the company has also offered its services to diplomatic missions in the country, an international oil and gas exploration company near the Kenya-Somalia border, close protection and escort work for high value tourists and commercial visitors to countries in the region including Somalia.
Is illegal fishing to blame for Somali pirates? By Robyn Curnow (CNN)
There is nothing swashbuckling about Somali piracy. The pirates are not romantic anti-heroes with a parrot on their shoulder. Instead, they are recognized as lawless, dangerous criminals who roam East Africa's waters terrorizing the shipping industry.
The direct impact of the criminality off the Somalia coastline is being felt on the mainland, where critical food aid is not getting through to famine-struck Somalis because 80 to 90% of humanitarian relief arrives by sea, according to a recent report by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Few ships and aid organizations are willing to take the risks involved in delivering tons of food aid, says the AfDB report. Owners and aid workers fear the ships will be seized and crews kidnapped for ransom. For now, despite the dangers, some humanitarian agencies still operate, often with protection from NATO warships.
The critical needs of feeding Somalis today, as well as the long-term implications of creating a sustainable agriculture sector, are often discussed by political scientists and economists. What to do about the state of anarchy in the failed state that is Somalia?
It is a question that has been debated for many years now, and I fear is not about to be imminently solved, even as African Union troops continue to do a brave job in defending Mogadishu against Al-Shabaab militias.
The issue of piracy, though, is not a purely hopeless problem, because its roots lie in the collapse of the fishing industry in Somalia.
A confluence of events in 1991 created a vacuum that laid the ground for the birth of Somali piracy. As the Siad Barre regime collapsed and plunged the country into civil war it left the Somali coastline unprotected. Around the same time the
EU tightened fishing controls in Europe, pushing some fishing ships to look for new waters.
So fleets from Europe and Asia - many operating illegally - moved into the open East African waters to fish. And fish they did, plundering, according to many reports, the oceans of fish stocks. The ripple effect was enormous, decimating the livelihoods of many Somali fishermen.
Many of these formerly destitute Somali fisherman "took matters into their own hands," according to the AfDB, and turned to hijacking ships to make up for lost income.
The new "industry" was quickly co-opted by the Somali warlords and is now an organized, hierarchical gang-like operation.
However, the AfDB and other observers still point to the many ships that continue to fish illegally in East African waters.
There is concern that this root cause of the Somali piracy issue has been badly managed by the international community. For example, NATO warships that police the passageway of the Gulf of Aden are not tasked with shutting down these offshore fisheries that continue to operate without jurisdiction, say observers. Allowing fish stocks to replenish, some say, might just mitigate the need for Somalis to earn a living out of piracy.
Others say this is just naïve, that the Somali coastline is a dangerous but strategic piece of maritime real estate, which will continue to destabilize the region no matter the state of fishing stocks.
Piracy:
The Somali Natives Tell Their Side Of The Story By Kassim Mohamed (NairobiStar)
KASSIM MOHAMED is just back from Somalia where he met some pirates and he reports that the dreaded group aver that they hold the key to ending piracy off the Somali Coast.
As the morning sun casts a lavender hue over Eyl, a village in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, residents are up to eke a living; women sell tea in makeshift kiosks, young boys and girls attend Madrasa- Islamic religious schools. However, the fishermen have abandoned their boats. They are scared of venturing into the sea.
Rickety wooden boats and untidy beaches are the hallmark of this area. Some of the fishermen say they can't gamble with their lives as the naval forces patrolling the coastline shoot anyone on a skiff boat.
"I am scared the ships that want to capture pirates might shoot us. There's no way to differentiate who is a fisherman and who is a pirate. A group of fishermen from another village not far from here were shot at from a Korean ship. They were lucky to have escaped but that was so close," said a man who identified himself as Abdi Ahmed.
The only men who seem to be getting away with the treasures of the sea, in this case hefty ransoms, are the pirates. They have become unofficial force that has puzzled even the well trained sub-marines from partners from across the world such as EU, US, Canada, China and India.
However, it's not a bed of roses for the Somali pirates. These men who have raised global attention have become a target of naval forces. A number of them have succumbed to bullets directed at them by marines.
The Dutch marines on April 2 this year mounted an ambitious raid to liberate an Iranian fishing vessel, but the commando operation in which the marines captured 16 Somali pirates, led to the controversial death of two others.
The killing of the two pirates is a clear testimony to the multi-national anti-piracy initiative whose role among others is to capture - not kill - the dreaded Somali pirates who have almost left the global trade along the lucrative sea route of the Indian Ocean to teeter on the edge.
Prior to the incident, local fishermen told the Star they spotted the Iranian vessel fishing deep inside the Somali waters shortly before pirates' attempt to seize it, and the Dutch frigate HMS Tromp was just in time to foil the hijacking with a bloody engagement that led to the death of two pirates.
Much to the dismay of the local Somalis, the bodies of the two men were reportedly buried at sea, an issue that had since raised great concern casting doubt on the efficiency of the presence of naval forces who are dealing lethargically with the mind-boggling problem of piracy.
A Dutch ministry of defense spokesman said that the decision to bury the dead pirates at sea was motivated by a number of factors; including high temperatures in the region and the slim possibility to return the bodies to their next of kin.
But for the locals that was tantamount to degrading the respect of the death of ethnic Somalis, sending a signal that Somali pirates deserve the most obnoxious inhuman alienation. Some residents were quick to claim that whereas pirates are criminals, the fact that they were killed and buried horribly is an affront to basic human rights and even common sense.
Even as the killing and the burial of the Somali pirates depicts an enigma, several questions remain unanswered following this particular incident; what was the Iranian fishing boat doing in Somali waters? Did the shipmaster know the risk of piracy along this dangerous coastline? Or were the owners taking advantage of the anti-piracy task forces roaming the Somali waters.
From the residents' point of view, ever since the ouster of Somali's former President Siad Barre in 1991, Somali waters have never got any respite from illegal and unregulated fishing by foreign vessels mostly from China, Japan, Greece, Taiwan, South Korea and India.
A Geography professor at the University of Minnesota in the United States said proceeds from stealing fish stocks in the Coast of Somalia run into between US$250-350 million annually. The bulk of illegal fishing is done by large foreign merchant vessels.
The civil war that has engulfed Somalia since 1991 has brought the country's fisheries sector to its knees; factories have been shut. Estimates by retired Somali maritime experts indicate close to 200,000 people lost their jobs.
The continuous illegal and unregulated fishing by foreign vessels and the dumping of toxic waste from the industrialised world made Somalis living along the coastline to survive on the edge and in the most deplorable condition.
Testimonies by local fishermen have over the past few years revealed several cases where foreign vessels were seen pouring boiling water into Somali fishermen's makeshift boats, leaving their nets cut or destroyed.
In a number of occasions, smaller boats were allegedly crushed by foreigners- killing all their occupants while some others suffered inhumane body harm, at a time they struggled to earn a living in their fishing business.
Recently in Hobyo, formerly a lucrative fishing zone, and now a pirates den, residents have encountered two containers floating on the sea and the result was a massive death of fish stocks that were swept into shore in large numbers.
The international High Seas Task Force (HSTF) says there were over 800 illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing vessels in Somali waters at one time in 2005. These vessels are said to be taking advantage of Somalia's inability to police and control the vast coastline.
The fish-poachers, who mostly are after the much endangered Tuna fish that is said to be plenty in the Coast of Somalia, neither compensated the local fishermen nor paid taxes and royalties.
In an attempt to deal with illegal foreign fishing, the local fishermen reviewed the issue and modernized their equipment. They bought speed boats, guns of different shapes and sizes and organised themselves to fight foreign vessels. Their insatiable demand to protect their line of businesses ostensibly transformed itself to modern day piracy menace.
The Somali pirates regard themselves as the protectors of Somalia's marine life. According to this modern day Robin Hoods, the term pirates is offensive in the eyes of these mostly spindly men who have seemingly overpowered the world navies.
In their own description of their money-minting occupation, they prefer to be referred to as "the Somali Coast Guards". This is however disputable. Piracy has become a lucrative business in which the financiers of this illegal trade stuff their pockets with millions of dollars in an unorthodox means.
A recent report by the London-based think tank- Chatham House - says that sea piracy costs the global economy between $7 and $12 billion annually of which the Somali pirate's are responsible for 95 per cent of the 'trade', a substantial amount considering the impact it has on shipping companies as well as traders and that in turn translates to escalation in the price of commodities.
In fact, the impact of piracy is felt much in the parched and bare Horn of Africa region, where prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed to a record high over the last few years. Since 2007, a 10 per cent increase in food prices has been recorded in the local markets.
Over the past few months, Somali pirates have been fired at and killed. In January 2011, South Korean navy commandos killed eight pirates and captured five others.
In a similar incident in November 12, 2010, Kenyan Navy personnel shot dead three suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean. The military said the pirates attempted to hijack a navy ship patrolling the Indian Ocean when personnel on board fired.
April 12, 2009, US navy seals killed three pirates off the Somali Coast. The operation approved by President Barack Obama was aimed to release an American ship captain who was held by pirates in a lifeboat.
In the midst of increased killing of pirates, genuine fishermen are scared to venture into the sea for fear of naval reprisal pursuing pirates. In some disturbing incidences, Chinese and Korean fishing vessels have reportedly taken the law into their hands by killing pirates. Many of such incidences go unreported.
"The good thing with EU and other western nations is that they report the number of pirates they kill but for China and Korea they hardly talk about it," says Mohamed, an elder at Hobyo, a pirate hide-out.
As it is now, there are more than 700 Somali pirates in 14 different countries either convicted or awaiting trial. There are also international efforts to set up prisons in parts of Somalia to make trials possible in the troubled nation.
Despite the ongoing bold campaign to counter piracy on the high seas, hijackings of vessels are still on the rise. The International Maritime Bureau's global piracy report recorded 97 attacks in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 in the same period last year.
This in part is due to the fact that the pirates are well equipped and more co-ordinated in their operations. Stormy weather has however reduced piracy attacks in the last two months.
Puntland and Somaliland, two semi-autonomous regions of Somalia with their different structures of government, are not much better than the South and Central Somalia in terms of Coast guards. Somaliland for example has three speed boats based in Berbera port but one is not functioning. The ill-equipped regions can hardly take further the fight against piracy.
Three multinational maritime coalition forces are contributing to the fight against piracy. The European Union Naval Force's (EUNAVFOR) Operation Atalanta, the NATO Operation 'Ocean Shield' and the Combined Maritime Forces' Combined Taskforce. In addition, several Member States have independently deployed naval military assets in the region as part of the international counter-piracy effort. But the fight is far from deterring the pirates.
Ecoterra International, a group that monitors piracy attacks, says at least 30 foreign vessels and 600 hostages are currently in the hands of Somali pirates.
According to some pirates the Star correspondent managed to spend some time with, it's about time the world thought of employing the young men who commit acts of piracy as Somali coastguards. These men have the guts and the skills, geographical know-how needed to outrun even the best of navies.
The question is why would someone who could make a lot of money by being a 'pirate' become an ordinary coastguard? The answer lies with understanding the piracy business model. There are investors most of them based outside the country who recruit unemployed young men in their twenties. Former police and military officers of the now defunct Somali government have also been recruited.
Most of these foot soldiers who conduct the risky operations of hijacking ships are employed on contract; for every successful hijack with whooping payment of ransom they pocket $US15, 000 (Sh1.35 million). The rest goes to the financiers who in turn reimburse the suppliers who cater for the needs of the hostages and the pirates.
"Somali pirates need to be rehabilitated and recruited as ordinary Coast guards as a way of advancing the war against piracy which is seemingly hitting a dead end. By enticing them with a decent living condition, there is a high possibility that these young men will definitely turn their backs on the so called 'pirate bosses' and throw in the towel," said Abdirahman Osman, a pirate in Puntland.
In one way it is better to agree with the popular adage that, 'if you can't beat them follow them' thus it will be easier to get hold of the financiers and their cohorts and free hostages. The move will in turn end the criminal poaching and wanton destruction of the Somali marine resources for the last 20 years.
According to a group of Somali pirates the Star interviewed, naval forces will never raise their head in their current approach as they are dimmed to suffer string of defeats at the hands of the Somali pirates. The best option they say is to ask the pirates to surrender, promising to "rehabilitate" them as "good citizens".
There are indications that the pirates are beginning to operate even more tightly and with greater secrecy further into the sea. "The volatile killing of our members will force us to maim and murder captives. Naval forces should bear the responsibility of the increasing bloodshed of both the pirates and their hostages," said Abdirahman while stating his take on how the business of piracy can end.
"Now that NATO is helping rebels in Libya fight the Gaddafi regime by providing aerial bombardments in what it calls a bid to end bloodshed and get rid of Gaddaffi's iron grip, it will not be any different as the end will justify the means. Just employ us and we will be great coastguards," Abdirahman says boldly.
According to the pirate gang that spoke with the Star, investing on employing the young men to counter the menace will safe NATO and other forces millions of dollars and bring back sanity in the high seas.
The International community may argue pirates are criminals, who deserve to be behind bars, but some Somali pirates say it's equally crucial to address the root causes of piracy and the only way is by weighing the options available.
A stable Somalia will be the best way to end piracy but that seems a long shot - sharing a roundtable with pirates is the first step to see piracy on its death bed.
After all there is a Somali saying that goes
Jini ninkii keenaa bixiya "whoever brings the devil knows how to get rid of it". In this case the pirates can be the key to ending piracy.
International court could curb Somali piracy By Ben Knight (DW)
Somali pirates are currently being sentenced, in some cases to death, in courts all over the world. But with 80 percent of pirates being set free, experts say the risks are too low to stop the problem.
Late last year, a pirate trial began in Hamburg for the first time in 400 years. Ten Somali men, some of them under 18, were brought to Germany on board a Dutch warship, and handed over to German authorities. They were caught red-handed last April, 500 miles off the Horn of Africa, in the act of hijacking the Taipan, a cargo ship owned by a Hamburg-based shipping company.
Their trial is complex and still ongoing, but other countries have already begun sentencing Somalis convicted of hijacking their ships.
On Monday, two Somali pirates were sentenced to life in prison in a court in the US, after they were involved in an abortive attempt to obtain ransom that ended with the murders of four US citizens. On the same day, a South Korean appeals court demanded the death penalty for a Somali pirate convicted of attempted murder of a South Korean captain on a hijacked ship.
Similarly, earlier this month, a Dutch court sentenced five Somalis to periods ranging from four to seven years for abducting two South Africans off a yacht in the Seychelles last year.
A drop in the Aden Altogether, around 1,000 pirates are currently on trial or in prison around the world, and navies have stepped up the force with which they are protecting their shipping interests. In Germany, meanwhile, more and more shipping companies are relying on private security – occasionally armed guards.
But the increased violence and tough sentencing does not seem to be an effective deterrent, with pirate attacks rising once again last year.
The International Maritime Bureau reported 445 pirate attacks on commercial vessels in 2010, an increase on 2009, when there were 410.
According to the European Union Naval Force for Somalia (EU NAVFOR), also known as Operation Atalanta, some 17 ships, containing around 380 hostages, are currently being held by pirates in that region.
The biggest hotspot remains the Gulf of Aden, the narrow channel that leads out of the Red Sea, around the Horn of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. Somalia comprises the entire southern coastline of the Gulf. In a few short years - since around 2006 - piracy has gone from being the isolated actions of a few desperate fishermen to a massive international criminal organization, a major factor in the Somali economy, and a headache for world trade.
The start of the problem: illegal fishing Some people are getting extremely rich. Images on Google Earth and in various media reports show tin shacks and mopeds on the Somali coast have been replaced by villas and SUVs. A number of critics say the incentives still far outweigh the risks and the rewards are just too tempting for Somali pirates to be deterred.
Mathias Weber is a political scientist who has been writing and studying the East African region for over 20 years. He believes the roots to Somali piracy lie in illegal fishing in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when local communities were robbed of their livelihoods.
"The problem started when state institutions collapsed in the 1990s as a result of the civil war," he told Deutsche Welle. "Fleets of foreign fishing trawlers exploited that and simply fished all the fish."
The United Nations World Food Program estimates that $300 million (208 million euros) worth of fish are stolen from Somali waters every year. "Local fishers had fewer and fewer fish in their nets. So they simply began to board the trawlers and demand ransom," says Weber. "They just saw how easy it is to hijack a ship. And shipping companies began to pay up quickly too."
Over time, Weber explains, the fishermen began to expand their operations and board any passing ships – sometimes cargo vessels, sometimes just sailing boats being sailed for pleasure. "They realized that they can earn huge amounts of money relatively easily," says Weber.
Nothing to lose On top of the vast rewards, there was the fact that Somalis had little to lose. "It's a failed state where it's difficult to survive at all," Weber points out. "People don't really have any other way of making much money. And the country is ruled by violence anyway - people are used to taking risks."
"After a while, they upgraded, re-investing the ransom money in speedboats, GPS systems and weapons," says Weber. "Eventually they had mother ships off the coast where they could spend several days at sea, which further expanded their range of operations."
It's true that Operation Atalanta has been able to report a certain amount of success – while the number of pirate attacks has increased, a smaller proportion have been successful.
"The pirates are becoming more violent too," Weber adds. "They know now that there are armed guards and they may be attacked, which didn't used to be the case. So things tend to escalate. Also the pirates have found ways to get into the panic rooms that some ships had installed."
Solution: international court? Another exacerbating factor is that even when pirates are caught, countries are often reluctant to take them into custody. Weber estimates that as many as 80 percent of pirates are released once the ship has been reclaimed, simply because authorities don't want to deal with the cost of collecting evidence and holding a trial.
"Plus, if they get brought to Europe there's a good chance that they'll apply for asylum, and countries won't be able to get them off their hands," says Weber.
That's why the idea of an international piracy court is currently under discussion in the United Nations. But Roger Middleton, consultant for the Africa Program at the Chatham House think tank, is unconvinced such a move would make much difference.
"The legal framework exists for pirates to be tried by nations that arrest them," he told Deutsche Welle. "The problem there is a political one not a legal one. Secondly, international tribunals have generally been reserved for issues of really serious concern - war crimes, genocide and so on - I don't think anyone would argue that piracy falls in those categories."
But the issue is also one of practicality – bringing prisoners all the way to the countries where the ship they hijacked happened to be from is costly and time-consuming. "It is important that people who engage in piracy can be tried," admits Middleton. "And if the only practical way to do it is by a UN court, perhaps that can be pursued."
As far as Weber is concerned, the UN court is essential. But he says that other measures are just as important, including stopping illegal fishing and stopping the illegal dumping of toxic waste on the Somali coast. And, most of all, peace and order need to be brought to Somalia.
The World from Berlin'Protection from Piracy Comes at a Price' By David Knight (DerSpiegel)
The threat of piracy off the Horn of Africa is growing all the time -- but should German police officers and soldiers be used to protect merchant shipping?
Following moves to allow private security firms to protect German merchant shipping against piracy off the Horn of Africa, some state governments are demanding that police officers and soldiers be used to guard vessels. German commentators say the onus is on shipowners to keep their fleets safe.
The wave of piracy around the Horn of Africa, which has reached a peak in recent years, shows no sign of slowing down -- and the rest of the world seems almost powerless to stop it. With Somalia still without a functioning government, scores of young men continue to set out to sea to hijack ships passing along the vital trade route. The vessels and their crews are then held hostage for ransom, an
increasingly lucrative activity.
A wide-ranging international naval mission has not succeeded in stopping the pirates, with 163 attacks reported in the region in the first half of 2011. Now some in Germany are demanding a more official level of protection for merchant ships. Up till now, the
use of private security guards on board German ships has been a legal gray area. But following recent calls to change Germany's laws to allow the practice, some state governments are demanding German police officers and soldiers help protect merchant ships directly.
The government in the city-state of Hamburg, home to more shipping companies than anywhere else in Germany, has asked for operations of the German navy around Somalia to be ramped up and for police units to be deployed to help protect vulnerable vessels.
'A Global Solution for a Global Problem'
In the meantime, moves have been made to clarify the legal position of private security forces. It is estimated that a third of German ships operating off the east African coast
already have such forces on board. "The traffic lights for deployment of (private) security forces have gone from red to amber, but are not green yet," Hans-Joachim Otto, the government's coordinator of maritime industry policy, said last week, stressing that an International Maritime Organization (IMO) vote next month is crucial to the final decision. "It's a global problem and should get a global solution."
German police trade unions, however, are hostile to what they consider a "privatization" of lethal force. "It's a function of the state alone," said Bernhard Witthaut, chairman of the German Police Union. He has called for Germany to set up a marine police unit manned by former German soldiers.
But German commentators Friday were angry that shipowners were seeking official state help, with some pointing out that many of their vessels sail under a flag of convenience and do not follow existing security procedures.
The left-leaning
Berliner Zeitung writes:
"Firstly, the owners are themselves legally obliged to ensure their ships are protected. Nothing is currently stopping them from bringing in private security guards to protect their vessels. A third of them are already doing this, even if they are not acknowledging it publicly. Secondly, from the outset many ship captains have not adhered to the -- non-violent -- international guidelines to prevent pirate attacks. To save money, fuel and time, they don't follow a zigzag course or travel at top speed, both of which make an attack more difficult; they would rather rely on the force of arms to deter pirates."
"And, thirdly, the bulk of their fleets -- or, more precisely, 3,089 out of 3,659 ships -- are sailing under a flag of convenience in order to save money -- more than €1.5 billion ($2.17 billion) every year. In now calling for protection from the state, the owners are showing a chutzpah that is worthy of Captain Jack Sparrow."
The center-left
Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:
"The demand from German shipowners for protection against pirates around the Horn of Africa is all too understandable. An attack, perhaps even a kidnapping, is an ordeal for the crews, and ransom payments can even lead to financial ruin for the owners. Having an armed security team on board discourages attacks and minimizes the risk of becoming a victim of piracy. What is not understandable, however, is the desire, backed by some state governments in northern Germany, for the federal police -- in other words, the German state -- to take over this task and send uniformed officers to serve on board merchant ships."
"The German government needs to save money, including with the police and the army. Shipowners must understand this. Most of them sail under flags of convenience for cost reasons. They benefit from the regulations of other countries, but in an emergency they still call on the German authorities for help. This may improve the reputation of Germany's federal police, but it doesn't make the shipowners look good."
The center-right
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:
"The German government wants private security services, or at least only those that come with a special government approval, to protect German ships. It is also being reviewed whether private maritime security companies should be able to use heavy weaponry. But, by then at the latest, the door would be left open to dubious mercenaries."
"Of course, firms on shore are protecting private land with weapons. But the state is particularly concerned with the protection of trade routes and the merchant fleet. And is the private arming of ships really necessary for security reasons? Raids are usually launched against ships that do not comply with the existing safety provisions. Shipowners are responsible for that. For them, just as for the state, security has its price."
TELEGRAPH: World exclusive:
The astonishing secret diaries of Paul and Rachel Chandler, the couple held hostage by Somali pirates for 13 monthsBy Paul And Rachel Chandler
The Chandlers spent years working for their dream: to sail around the world in their 38ft yacht Lynn Rival, leaving the rat race trailing in its wake. And when they retired – Paul was a civil engineer, Rachel a government economist – they embarked on the journey of a lifetime.
By October 2009, they had left their home in Kent far behind, visiting the Aegean, the Red Sea, the coast of India and the Maldives, recording their voyage in meticulous diaries.
Now their aim was to sail from the Seychelles to Tanzania, arriving there for Christmas. The forecast was good as they departed, but 12 hours out the sky clouded over and the wind dropped. The Chandlers settled down for a long, difficult haul – unaware that life was about to change for ever . . .
Friday, October 23, 2009
Rachel: The night is murky, with neither moon nor starry constellations to lighten the dark expanses of sea and sky around the Seychelles archipelago. I'm feeling queasy. I sit on deck next to the wheel. Time is passing slowly. The first three days of a long sail are tough. Once
I get my sea legs, I'm fine. I'm grumpy but determined to do my watch because Paul needs his sleep.
Then a strange noise is heard above the familiar throb of our yacht's engine. I grab a torch and direct it into the darkness where an unlit, narrow open boat packed with shadowy figures is accelerating towards us.
Two shots ring out, I drop my torch in fright. A jumble of arms gets ready to grab hold of our guard wires, men jostling to clamber on board, guns clattering.
The skiff slams into our side. Without thinking, I put up my hands and shout: 'No guns! No guns! ' I want them to know we are unarmed. A second skiff appears within seconds on the other side. My mind races.
Eight black men, mostly young and gangly, scramble over the rails, struggling to find room on the narrow deck. At least five rifles point at me. They shout to one another in incomprehensible language and bark commands at me in basic English. 'Stop engine!' 'Lights!'
'There are ten ruthless and jumpy men aboard our yacht each with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle.'
Paul Chandler
The men are jumpy, shouting at one another, gesticulating with their guns. I realise I must do as they say. 'Crew? Number?' 'Two. Me. And man,' I shout, indicating below. 'Crew, up, up!'
They seem as confused as me as to what happens next. Our attackers must be Somali pirates. How did they get here, so far from Somalia, so close to the Seychelles? 'Paul! Please come up,' I call out tensely.
Paul: I hear the thuds and crack of gunshots and sit up in shock. I wrestle with the choice – Y-fronts or contact lenses? I press the red button on the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and warily climb to the deck. The cockpit is full of men standing on the seats with guns aimed at Rachel and now me. I indicate my nakedness: 'Clothes?'
The man questioning Rachel gestures OK, so I drop back down and grab T-shirt, pants and shorts. I'm keen to keep their attention from the EPIRB, its light flashing as it sends a distress signal via satellite to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. They will forward data to the Seychelles coastguard. They will easily find us by dawn. We have to be patient and sit out the next few hours.
Rachel: Another boat slams into our stern; more men clamber aboard. More guns. One of the new arrivals takes charge, staring at us and grunting instructions to the others. This alpha male tells us his name is Buggas. He's heavily built, about 5ft 9in, and looks to be in his early 30s. He notices the EPIRB flashing and angrily gestures at it, shouting for Paul to switch it off.
Paul: There are ten ruthless and jumpy men aboard our yacht each with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle.
'Money! Search money. Give $20,000 [£12,000] – you go.' They shout. 'Small boat, small money,' I say. 'You lie! Money? Search money.'
I am beginning to understand the one-track mind of the Somali pirate. I reach under Rachel's bunk and pull out our cash reserve, about $1,500.
They find Rachel's clothes and appear on deck, freshly showered wearing her tops and trousers.
Rachel: The pirates then help themselves to our store of biscuits and fresh fruit. Buggas orders Paul to head towards Somalia with few words but much emphatic swinging and gesturing of an AK-47. We are still not allowed to speak to one another.
Buggas wants a 'shower'. I show him the cramped lavatory/shower cubicle in the aft cabin. He surveys the facilities in disgust.
He demands 'Shampoo. Original!' He refuses my offer of a bar of soap, so I give him the first thing that comes to hand – Cif, abrasive household cleaner.I am blowed if I'm going to be helpful.
Soon a naked Buggas appears, covered in Cif, complaining that it isn't lathering. His men laugh and I have to restrain myself. I hand him washing-up liquid instead.
In the afternoon it rains and the pirates take our waterproofs. Buggas puts on a full set of oilskins and causes great amusement by coming on deck to show off his new look.
At all times, three men are armed on guard while others keep watch. Why don't they take what they've got and go after something bigger?
Saturday, October 24
Rachel: I sleep fitfully and wake to the stomach-churning smell of chapattis deep-frying in oil. Paul manages to eat one. I come on watch at 0700 and drink sweet tea. We have little wind to help us and are only managing about two knots, so it's still a long way to Somalia. Below decks is now chaotic.
The bow cabin is out of bounds, requisitioned for storing rice, flour and provisions. There are bodies all over the place, sleeping two to three to a bunk. Scrabble tiles, playing cards, papers and charts are strewn everywhere. It's like having a gang of delinquent teenagers squatting in your home. They go through our lockers playing CDs loudly, even complaining about our taste in music!
Buggas is nagging me to eat. He wants to keep us healthy to preserve our value. I fear we are being held hostage. I long to have a wash but with a lack of privacy it's impossible. When I go to the lavatory, a guard sits outside the shower curtain, inches away. I hide under my sheet and make do with wet wipes. It can't get any worse.
Sunday, October 25
Rachel: A hot and calm day. Buggas sits next to me in the cockpit and tells me there are no schools in Somalia and his men are illiterate. I've noticed how little respect they have for him and he has to shout to get them to do what he wants. 'You British, big money, four million dollar,' says his second-in-command. 'You're joking.' 'Somali men hungry. No fish. British Government, big money, no problem.'
My heart sinks. They are so cocky. They have nothing to lose. I am hoping something will happen to make them give up before we land in Somalia. We are zombies on overdrive, concentrating on keeping the boat going and avoiding antagonism.
Paul: Mental numbness has set in. Future? What future? Our home is wrecked. Our dream has become a nightmare.
Monday, October 26
Paul: A sombre day of inactivity as we struggle with our new reality. The pirates relax more as each hour passes and their lawless homeland draws nearer. Rachel and I are allowed to sit together in the cockpit but not allowed to speak. Our mobiles have been confiscated. Rachel manages to keep a diary, but in secret.
Crack! Gunshot on the foredeck. Shouts. Then silence. Accidental discharge. Even the movies can't prepare you for the violent noise of light machine-gun fire.
Rachel: I psyche myself up to make supper. The galley is filthy. They don't use washing-up liquid. I clean up and make a Spanish omelette.
Wednesday, October 28
Paul: A waxing moon lights up a scene I'll never forget. No more than 200 metres away is the black silhouette of a warship ready for action. And even closer, to starboard, the looming bulk of a container ship. Buggas pushes me down the steps. 'Speak. Tell turn away or kill you.'
Using VHF channel 16, the international distress channel, I make contact with the warship, informing them we are kidnapped and unharmed but that they must turn away. 'Understood' came the response.
'I take one last look at poor Lynn Rival. For ten years we worked towards this dream. What will happen to her, our home, our life and our guardian?'
Rachel Chandler
'GO! GO!' Buggas pushes me towards Lynn Rival's wheel, points at the container ship and indicates with his gun that I should 'ram' her.There is a bang as we collide. A rope ladder is thrown from the stern of the container ship, Kota Wajar. Buggas gesticulates: 'Up! Up!' I clamber over the rail on to the deck.
The Chandlers knew nothing of it, but at this point the ship in view is Wave Knight, a British fleet tanker (supply vessel) of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. It is close by and aware of their dire predicament.
What followed has been a matter of controversy. When questioned, the Ministry of Defence said the pirates on the container ship had opened fire on Wave Knight.
Under the military Rules of Engagement, the British ship could have launched a deadly assault against them, but according to the MoD, Wave Knight did not do so because of the 21 crew held hostage on board.
But a source on board Wave Knight has claimed there was also a party of well-armed Marines on the ship, that they were prepared to attack the pirates, but that – with the military authorities in apparent confusion – the order never came. Another vessel, HMS Cumberland with commandos, arrived two hours too late. In the event, the Royal Navy proved incapable of saving the Chandlers.
Rachel: I take one last look at poor Lynn Rival. For ten years we worked towards this dream. What will happen to her, our home, our life and our guardian? The warship slowly moves away. The Kota Wajar was hijacked 14 days ago and forced towards Somalia. The captain and crew – fellow hostages – feed and clothe us.
Paul: I am summoned to the bridge by Omar, a well-dressed Somali who is a 'translator'. He spends a while on his mobile phone and hands it to me. I speak to a British man, Angus, who is with Stephen, Rachel's brother.
Stephen is a retired farmer, not a professional negotiator. Angus enquires after our welfare and whether a ransom has been asked for. Clearly our friends have been at work. Then the call fails. Who was he? Is our rescue imminent?
Thirty-six hours later Paul and Rachel are offloaded at the coastal town of Eel Hur in southern Somalia and taken at gunpoint by a gang of 30 armed men in a four-car convoy to the first of the 15 camps they will eventually endure. The Lynn Rival is salvaged by the Royal Navy six days after the initial attack.
The heat is intense. They have books, pens, paper and playing cards and are eventually allowed a shortwave radio. Somehow, Paul has kept hold of a camera, and manages to take secret photographs.
Two weeks later, Buggas contacts Stephen on the Chandlers' mobile phones. Long negotiations for a ransom begin. Kidnappers send a video to Channel 4 in which terrifying footage shows machine guns held to Paul's and Rachel's heads.
On December 14, Rachel is forced to walk up the hill from their camp and is driven away in a Land Rover. Paul shouts 'Don't worry! I love you!' as she disappears.
Friday, December 18
Paul: One of the thugs dials Lynda's number. I don't want to do this. Lynda is my closest cousin. Luckily the answerphone takes the call. Buggas's plan is not going well.
'OK, speak Stephen. No money you dead!' says Buggas, in case I hadn't got it. I have great difficulty in understanding and I'm not sure Stephen can hear me. 'Why is no one negotiating with the gang?' Rachel has been taken away. I have no idea where she is or even if she is alive.
Saturday, December 19
Paul: We travel 45 minutes to find a good phone signal. Buggas refreshes my memory: 'Speak money – no money these men kill you,' as Omar passes me the phone. I don't want to beg from my sister but I'm sure she will be supported by specialists, so I go ahead. I tell her that when I sleep there is a machine gun within a few feet each side of me . . . that I am desperate . . . that I can't stop worrying about Rachel.
At night, the temperatures plummet and in extreme cold, Paul sleeps on a thin mattress on the desert floor, which exacerbates his agonising arthritis. Rachel is taunted for crying and refuses to eat. She writes a letter to Paul for him to read in the event of her death. It would later emerge they had been held a few miles apart.
But on December 23, as Christmas approaches, they are suddenly reunited.
Wednesday, December 23
Rachel: Reunion is sweet. We hold hands and talk and talk. I hadn't realised how much we'd come to rely on one another. It's good to listen to the World Service and play crib.
We grumble that the food is plain and meagre. I'm enchanted by the bats that come at dusk, but not by the cold at night.
Thursday, December 24
Paul: Surrounded by the full gang. Reception is terrible but we listen defiantly to the Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols From King's College, Cambridge. Rachel joins in and has tears running down her cheeks: grief for a life lost.
Friday, December 25
Paul: Rachel has saved foil from the gangsters' cigarette packets. We put it on a thorn tree to decorate the entrance of our little home. Our day starts with 'high-octane' tea for breakfast (water comes in petrol jerry cans) followed by spaghetti for lunch. For a festive treat, walnuts and chickpeas. We can't find the Queen's Speech on the radio.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Paul: Rice for supper but only manage a mouthful before Buggas strides up. 'You go. One. One. Quick. Bags.' Refusing to be separated again, we stand up and say: 'No.'
Buggas snarls. He turns away, picks up his AK-47 and aims it at us. I turn, keeping myself between him and Rachel. Gangsters are gathering and race towards Buggas. 'One out. NOW.' 'No. You might as well kill us.'
He splutters with anger: 'You want dead? OK. KILL YOU!' I tighten my arms around Rachel and I'm aware of an AK-47 being cocked. Men shout incomprehensibly and two grab Buggas from behind.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Three shots. He has fired into the air. We are stunned, but cling to each other, resigned to dying. There is nothing more he can take from us. He flings his gun to the ground and storms off. Buggas yanks up an exposed tree root and peels a layer about 3ft long, the thickness of my little finger.
Ktsh – the first stroke hits my shoulder. I move my arms up, trying to protect Rachel's neck. Ktsh. Ktsh. Ktsh. I sense six or seven red weals. Awareness of time ceases. I try to protect Rachel from this thug.
Two strong arms grab mine and wrench me away. Rachel and I make a desperate attempt to cling together, but we are pulled apart. Two men drag me away. I can see Rachel pinned to the ground. Buggas picks up his AK and smashes the butt down into Rachel's face. This is the end.
Why are they separating us again? They bundle me into the back seat of a Toyota. One man stands close each side, guns at the ready.
We cross the bush and lurch to a halt in the darkness. Mattress on the ground, bags thrown on to it – 'Sleep'. The car drives off. Has the world ended? Mine has.
Rachel: Something solid whacks the side of my face as I crumple to the ground. I scream 'murderers' over and over again. Men step over me, one kicking me. My left incisor is broken and my cheekbone throbs; a raw soreness tells me where the whip has marked my back and side. I'm angry; I hate these people so much. I refuse food. I have little will to live.
Wednesday, January 6
Paul: The worst day of my life. My mind is in turmoil. Is Rachel alive? The hatred builds in me: we can beat these bastards. I somehow know that Rachel is not dead. Together in mind and spirit, 30 years together, we must live for each other. Be strong.
Separated once again and moved to endless new locations, Paul and Rachel grow disorientated. Ransom negotiations are exhausting and frustrating, with huge pressure exerted on their families. But a British General Election, bad weather and breakdown in communications stall a release.
Paul suffers ear and eye infections, the food remains dire and the heat intense. Tormented by her captors and the false hope of every passing plane, Rachel contemplates suicide.
Friday, April 2
Rachel: A vehicle arrives, the gate opens and there is Paul. He looks so much older and thinner but his smile tells me he's the same Paul. We hug chastely in front of our gangster audience. We read each other's diaries. It's uncomfortable to hear the pressure Paul was put under.
His relationship with his guards is unsettling, as if he admires some of their soldiering skills. His are relatively friendly whereas I could only ever see mine as thugs.
Thursday, April 8
Rachel: Ali, a translator brought in to help, tells us the negotiations have finished. Stephen has raised $440,000 [£260,000] and the Somali government is contributing. We'll be taken to the airport in a week. How will they get us out of here?
Wednesday, June 16
Paul: Stephen has made arrangements to deliver the money by plane to a town called Adaado tomorrow at 11am. The pirates say they need four hours to count the money, so the plane will probably need to fly back to Kenya and return for us on Friday.
Rachel: I've been through my bags, packing only essentials. I wash my hair and use my last disposable razor to shave my legs. And a bra! I haven't worn one since day one. I only have one pair of shoes. Will there be medical checks and debriefing? Relief and excitement. No sleep!
Thursday, June 17
Paul: We wake early, sitting, waiting, our bags packed. We try to stay calm and eat our chapatti. Then a call is taken from Stephen. He says the plane flying with the money is three hours away and will arrive at 11am local time. He reassures us all is well and says he will make contact tonight. And that's the last we hear.
Friday, June 18
Rachel: Over breakfast, we ask
ourselves: Why didn't Stephen phone last night? What's gone wrong? Paul stands up and lets off steam: 'You're all lying bastards! F*** off and leave us alone!' Our family have paid the money, yet Buggas won't let us go. Our worst nightmare has come true.
© Paul and Rachel Chandler and Sarah Edworthy 2011.
Hostage: A Year At Gunpoint With Somali Gangsters, by Paul and Rachel Chandler with Sarah Edworthy, is published by Mainstream Publishing priced £9.99.
To order your copy at the special price of £8.99 with free p&p, call The Review Bookstore on 0843 382 1111 or visit
www.MailLife.co.uk/Books.
Maritime Jihad By Ryan Mauro (FrontpageMagazine)
In February, four Americans were held for ransom by Somali pirates and executed. The pirates have the viciousness, skills and assets to bring havoc to the seas for a price, and Islamist terrorists are willing to pay. The U.S. commander for Africa predicts that Al-Qaeda will team up with the pirate gangs, as terrorist groups see maritime targets as a weak point for their enemies.
The U.S. commander overseeing Africa, General Carter Ham, confirms that the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, al-Shabaab, is making money from piracy off the coast of East Africa. He predicts that Al-Qaeda will directly become involved with the Somali pirates if the problem is not tackled. Pirate activity sharply increased in 2008, coinciding with advances by al-Shabaab. The partnership between the pirates and terrorists is usually not one of ideological affinity, but of business and sometimes, coercion. For example, in February, al-Shabaab members forced a group of pirates to give them 20 percent of what they earn from ransoms. "They demanded we allow six of their fighters to board each of our hijacked ships. We have not left our houses…Worse, we are constantly receiving threatening text messages," one pirate said.
In April 2008, a group of Somali pirates got paid a $1.2 million ransom to let a Spanish fishing vessel and 26 hostages go free. Al-Shabaab received five percent of the payment. Predictably, such payments to the pirates encouraged them to continue their profitable practices. There have been dozens of hijackings, hostage-takings and raids since, appeasing the pirates and indirectly financing terrorists. In April 2009, former ambassador to Ethiopia and expert on East Africa, David H. Shinn, said that al-Shabaab sometimes receives a protection fee from the pirates of 5 to 10 percent. If the group trains the pirates, it earns 20 percent. If the Al-Qaeda affiliate finances the entire operation, the commission is as high as 50 percent.
In July 2009, Somali officials said that al-Shabaab was hiring pirates to smuggle in members of Al-Qaeda to the country. It was said that up to 1,000 foreign jihadists had been brought in that year. In some cases, the jihadists view the pirates as soldiers defending Islam. In 2008, a leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said to the Somali pirates, "[T]ake caution and prepare yourselves…Increase your strikes against the Crusaders at sea and in Djibouti." A spokesman for al-Shabaab praised them for "protecting the coast against the enemies of Allah." Another group tied to Al-Qaeda, the Ras Kamboni Brigades, said they are "part of the Mujahideen" even if they are unsavory "money-seekers."
According to Jane's Intelligence Review, the pirates and terrorists work together in arms trafficking, and the Somali pirates are helping al-Shabaab develop maritime capabilities. Al-Shabaab is using hijacked cargo ships to train its operatives in their use. This poses a serious threat to maritime traffic, and a successful attack would have a major economic impact. The Somali Prime Minister made the point in March, "Why bother with a small plane when you can capture a tanker?"
It is hard to understand why there is debate over whether there is a link between the pirates and terrorists. As the Long War Journal said,"The pirates and terrorists are often one in the same, or if not, are in close cooperation." The Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf, has worked with another affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah, to give their operatives scuba diving training and other instruction for maritime attacks. India's intelligence service has confirmed a linkage between terrorists and pirates in the Indian Ocean. Lashkar-e-Taiba has set up a branch in Karachi, Pakistan specifically devoted to maritime terrorism.
Joseph Tenaglia, CEO of Tactical Defense Concepts, a maritime security group, told FrontPage that"Jihadist groups have come to see piracy as a lucrative means to fund their activities."
"There are reports of illicit funds emanating from piracy in Somalia moving through banks in Yemen to other Middle Eastern countries. There have been several reports of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps involvement in piracy and threats to shipping vessels in the region," Tenaglia said.
According to an associate of Tactical Defense Concepts with extensive experience in the Middle East, "Al Qaeda in the Yemen has a growing interest in hijacking tankers in particular because it would give them independence from relying on donations."
Targeting al-Shabaab in Somalia is necessary, but it will not put an end to the growing threat of piracy and terrorist involvement in the activity. As long as it remains a profitable endeavor, it will be attractive to criminals and terrorists alike. One of the problems is that crews are rarely armed to defend themselves.
"The fact is that an armed vessel has never been taken by pirates," Tenaglia said. "Increased violence and resulting financial losses are causing a change of opinion. Many shipping companies are finally giving their vessels armed protect, usually with trained security teams."
The reason piracy is increasing is simple: It is very profitable. The key is to stop allowing it to be so lucrative by ending ransom payments, allowing vessels to defend themselves, and retaliating against the pirates and their terrorist allies. The pirates have the potential to assist terrorists in carrying out an attack on shipping lanes that puts the world economy into even more of a panic. And if that happens, everyone will wonder why we didn't anticipate it sooner.
The articles below - except where stated otherwise - are reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and are for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions held by ECOTERRA Intl.
Articles below were vetted and basically found to report correctly - or otherwise are commented.
Somalis say:
NO TO UN-TRUSTEESHIP OVER SOMALIA OR AU AND IGAD MILITARIZATION NO to military governance on land or naval governance on the Somali seas.
NO to any threat infringing on the sovereignty of Somalia, especially concerning the 200nm territorial waters, given since 1972, and the 200nm EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone / UNCLOS) already in place since 1989.
NO to any Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in relief food or Genetically Engineered (GE) seed supplies.
A call to Somali leaders:
Prioritize the spirit of nationalism and leave aside their differences By Omar Sheikh Hamid (raxanreeb)
"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first." - Charles de Gaulle.
Somalia, a country with more potentials but fail to utilize it, the only homogeneous nation on earth religiously, culturally and even ethnically, yet their homogeneity has not helped them to overcome their prolonged woe. The country was an economic and military power during in the early 1980s, but after the collapse of Somali national government led by Gen. Siyad Bare left everything destroyed in 1991. Even the Somalis community became socially and economically down.
The nation went through many political phases for last two decades facing tremendous challenges including prolonged civil war, deep rooted tribalism, the loss of nation-hood belonging, as well as the current famine crisis that claimed 29,000 children under the age of 5 to have died in the last 90 days in the country's south alone. And those stories are what plunged the Somali society into this catastrophic situation that it is going through today.
Let me try to summarize the mega political dynamics in Somalia for the last decade, Every Somali transitional federal government built outside home had a challenge to face, but the biggest challenge after 1991 was The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) that defeated the warlords in the capital, restored peace to Mogadishu for the first time in 15 years, and brought most of southern Somalia under its ambit.
Consequently, the US and its Ethiopian ally claimed that these Islamists were terrorists and therefore an evil to the region. In contrast, the vast majority of Somalis supported the UIC and demanded the International Community to engage them peacefully. But the peace did not last. Ethiopian invasion begun in December 2006 and defeated the loyalists of UIC, the Ethiopian Invasion displaced more than a million people and many others lost their lives.
Another new political phase was emerged immediately known as Al-Shabaab, originally the youth wing of the UIC – declared its affiliation with al-Qaeda, and was identified as a terrorist group by the International Community, they lacked the support of both the local people as well as those in abroad because of their misrepresentation of Islam sending out a negative picture of Islam to non-Muslims as well as Muslims. Though, the group wants to establish an Islamic state but unfortunately, it failed to govern and put in place even the most fundamental Infrastructural facilities or provide the basic services needed by the local people.
My point here is that if we had gone through all the above mentioned tragedies' I believe no more torture left for us, so What is the way forward, and how best the destroyed nation could be restored into normal. ? That is the most important question being asked in today's Somalia' politics. The political divisions among our Somali political stakeholders made us to be under the control of another people that humiliated our sovereignty and our great civilized religion. The actions and thoughts currently operating in Somalia are the same Arab actions, cultures and thoughts before Prophet Mohammed came with revelation of the Qur'an because at that time Arabs lacked a unifying religious system and they were known as (the barbarian generation).
It remains unknown the reason in which Somalis are turning away the traditions of great civilized religion to prefer to mired civil war, brutality killing in the name of Islam, in the name of clan, or political views, which resulted in massive killing, destruction, and attack on innocent lives, which brought the whole country into this unforgettable disaster, devastation, and manmade catastrophic, while rest of the World is developing in competitive ways.
I have been in east Africa for the last three years doing my academic project, but being in east Africa to me means a lot, making me to think differently at any level, personally, regionally and even at national level. This is one the main motives forced me to write these statements so that my fellow Somali brothers and sisters can understand with me the social, political, economic and psychological tragedies in which our nation is going through for so long up-to-date.
Our leaders should recognize one very crucial point which is leaving aside the political differences as well as clan differences and concentrate how the spirit of nationalism could be restored in to the hearts of Somali people. Such dream could be possible if you as a leader attain one character and that is to be as honesty as Hazrat Umar. The famous father of India Mahatma Gandhi once said that "if India has to improve, it should be ruled by a dictator as honest as upright as Hazrat Umar". This clearly shows how justice is extremely important for any leadership to succeed. That is why Hazrat Omar got the title Al- faruuk (The person who differentiate the truth from falsehood.) He used to execute the justice even if it is against him. I understand that it is a bit hard to find such leader in today's world but if you look at across countries with success stories, you find their leaders were somehow related to justice.
Therefore, I argue all Somali leaders to learn from history as well as the current global competitiveness, especially in Africa, because history tells us that what we have been doing for Africa three decades ago is being done for us today, which I regard as a national disaster as far as national development is concern. I understand that due to the government's failure to bring law and order in our country resulted every Somali national to despair from nation-hood belonging and the hope for peace, but let us not despair in life , we must always have the spirit of new Somali era That will overtake its peer group.
The reason of why I have to write this article is because I felt that a candle is coming out of dark, as AL- Shabaab is driven out of Mogadishu followed by the visit of respected and brilliant world leaders to Mogadishu for the first time in decades to see how much we suffered. I would like to send my deep appreciation to the prime minster of the republic of Turkey Mr. Erdogan who shown us how twin brothers we are, when no other leader in the world on his hierarchy have made the same; even those whom we claim as brothers of same origin.
Finally, our leaders must prevent recurrent political failures that ashamed our nation and destroyed our society too if the nation wants to move forward. The transitional federal government (TFG) should also put more emphasis on gaining the support of other political stakeholders within the country who are willing to be part of Somalia's rebuilding process, especially the semi-autonomous region of Puntland without which would be very difficult to be attained a full functioning government. That is my massage to top Somali leaders and others interested in stabilizing Somalia. I feel disappointed when I see a Somalis going to another country and being discriminated throughout world airports, because of their lack of government, but I am waiting days to come when Somalis go another country and people will stand to respect him. I want see them talk and talk the good things of our country.
What is ultimately required is a national dialogue with the establishment of national government based on system of governance that is suitable for the country, by Somalis with the genuine assistance of others. Accountable leaders to their people are extremely important. And lastly such government is the best defense against famine, terrorism, imperialism and all other difficulty conditions existing in Somalia.
(*)
Omar Sheikh Hamid is a development studies student of Kampala International University Email: Imran0266@hotmail.com Somalia: Why do only Muslims starve? By
Abdulateef Al-Mulhim (ArabNews)When we studied geography during my school days, Somalia was one of the countries that fascinated us with its agricultural products. There were Saudis in the sixties who would travel to Somalia and talk about how fertile the land was. And would bring with them some of these products to families in Saudi Arabia. At that time, not every Saudi or Gulf family was able to secure nutritious three meals a day. But, Somalis were very active in producing the best bananas in the world. Somalia was the main source of red meat for Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states. The population of Somalia is now ten million. It was much less during the sixties. In 1960, Somalia was officially united and became independent. It was the most important strategic country in Africa. Somalia has the longest shoreline in Africa and fishing is a very important source of income apart from tourism. At the peak of the Cold War, Somalia took advantage of its strategic location and was spoiled by the East and West. This is why at some time during the seventies, it had the largest army in Africa. When Somalia won independence in 1960, their first President Aden Abdullah Daar was a well-respected figure internationally. The Somalis had a change of government in a coup on Oct. 21, 1969 and Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre became the new president. At that time Somalia enjoyed a clout among African nations in a lot of fields. They had a strong military and economy. And they were so powerful they could challenge superpowers and decided in July 1977 to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabited Ogaden region into greater Somalia. During these times, in 1974 the Somali president was the chairman of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU). Somalia in the past had a powerful position on the world stage.
Things changed in the year 1991. The president was ousted and civil war started and with it came the calamity that is still bedeviling Somalia.
Somalia now is the poorest, most dangerous and most unstable country in the world. There is no law. These days, we see starving children and sick mothers in Somalia, but we also see pirates and warlords. Why there is starvation in a country that has thousands of miles of shorelines suitable for fishing? The land of Somalia can be the breadbasket of the Middle East. Yet, every Somali is starving. Now, every country in the world wants to help Somalia feed its people. Saudi Arabia started a telethon to raise money for Somalia, but hours after the start of the telethon, the news about a failed piracy attempt against a Saudi ship and a successful takeover of another Gulf ship by Somali pirates hit the world headlines.
So, the question is how food aid would be delivered. Also, are the Somalis going to help get the aid to the right place and the right people or is it going to be used by the warlords? Will Somalia help aid organizations to monitor the distribution of food and medicine? Why can't the Somalis put down their weapons and stop wasting money on chewing Qhatt and buying weapons and help each others? If the Somalis don't settle their own differences, no one will be able to do it for them. Now, every country is beset with economic recession and some Arab and Muslim brothers are in deep crisis. The Somalis have one chance to help their country to stand on its feet again and be part of the international community.
Somalia did not have any government since 1991. And Somalia didn't have to lose its ability to cultivate one of the most fertile lands and the richest deep-water fishing in Africa.
Now, the question that a lot of people ask is: Why starvation occurs in Muslim countries that have rivers, rich soil, raw materials and abundance of labor? We saw famine and starvation in Sudan, shortage of food in Egypt, empty super markets in Libya even during the peak of oil prices, riots in some Arab countries because of shortages of bread and its high prices. Syria had the best cotton crops and sweetest potatoes in the Middle East, but they exchanged it for rusty tanks from Russia.
International aid to Somalis is vital and a good gesture, but what is next? Are the Somali warlords going to put down their weapons, cultivate their land and educate their children? Because feeding the children should come from the inside not the outside.
(*)
Abdulateef Al-Mulhim can be contacted at: almulhimnavy[AT]hotmail.com Bruised by war, Somalia's capital slowly reawakens (Reuters)
After four years of war, Mogadishu is rising from its ruinsTheir life's belongings piled on donkeys, Somali families weave along alleys filled with the corpses of starved animals to return to their bullet-ridden homes.
After four years of war, Mogadishu bears the signs of a city slowly rising from the ruins of war.
Gunfire, bombs and mortars had punctured the coastal city almost everyday as Western-backed government forces and African Union troops fought an insurgency by the Islamist al Shabaab rebel group.
But earlier this month, the al-Qaida-inspired militants -- outgunned and divided -- withdrew nearly all their combatants from their bases in the capital and Somalis woke to what they say they hope will be an extended period of calm.
"I led a dog's life for the last two years," said Liban Abdulle who was forced to flee his home and shop in Abdiaziz, a once thriving Mogadishu district near the water-front.
Al Shabaab overran the neighborhood in 2008, as it did elsewhere in Mogadishu, turning it into a battlefield, digging tunnels and trenches and commandeering people's homes.
Abdulle fled to Elasha on the outskirts of Mogadishu, one of several towns where tens of thousands of displaced Somalis settled.
"I have now returned to my former home. The house was looted and destroyed. But I am happy, my cousin sent me $400 to revive my shop. Business is good and people have returned," he said.
Hospitals shelled, ambulances shot up as health workers become targets of war across the world. A local rights group said up to half a million people had returned to their dwellings in the last three weeks, in a city that numbered two million people before the insurgency.
Those with no homes to return to in Mogadishu, fill squalid, makeshift refugee camps where an influx of Somalis fleeing famine in the country's south have further swelled numbers.
AU tanks and Somali forces on pick-ups mounted with anti-aircraft guns patrol Mogadishu's streets, trying to maintain the lull in fighting, which over four years has killed more than 20,000 people according to U.N. estimates.
There are still some pockets of resistance by al Shabaab in the capital's northern districts. The militants have vowed to press the fight and resort to al-Qaida-style attacks.
But the threats have not deterred many families from returning, with their mattresses, pillows, buckets, rugs and tires piled high on carts and buses.
Filling trenches, clearing bushesOn one Sinai street, bullet holes scar a row of one-story bricked houses, their metal sheet roofs in various stages of collapse.
"The rebels dug trenches, overgrown bushes crowd the house and the skeletons of our donkeys lie nearby," said Gele Culusow from the Karan district, where hastily constructed cemeteries mark the graves of those who dared remain to guard their houses.
"Some good traders helped us with tractors to fill the trenches and to level heaps. Everyone around here has an axe to clear bushes around their houses. It is do it yourself," he said.
After four years away, Habiba Osman returned to her home in Taleh, a neighborhood between the K-4 road junction and Somalia's main Bakara market, a former rebel base.
"Electricity cables, water pipes, the roof and some walls were ruined by shells. I understand al Shabaab were firing mortars from my house, prompting the AU's shells to land on it," said Osman who had to pay $4,000 to repair the damage.
"Now there is hope for living. I am home with my children."
Roads that once served as front lines in the fighting have re-opened. The booming parts of the capital are those which have been under government control for the last four years.
There, vehicles are out on the streets late into the night, businesses stay open later and older houses along well-lit streets are being torn down to make way for newer ones.
Living to see this dayMogadishu has become a haven for Somalis fleeing the drought-hit, rebel-controlled parts of the country where al Shabaab imposed a ban on food aid agencies and tried to prevent Somalis from fleeing in search of food.
Although operating in Mogadishu is far from easy, relief groups say that more food aid is reaching refugee camps and sanitation conditions have improved since al Shabaab pulled out.
"I never thought my children and I would live to see this moment," said Samira Yasin who fled to the Korsan camp in Elasha from Mogadishu's Daynile district after her husband and son were killed in fighting four years ago.
Previously living under al Shabaab control, Yasin described a filthy, mosquito and flea-ridden camp where her children suffered from measles and malnourishment.
"Now at least life is better. There are no parasites and no al Shabaab. We get free food, medicine and water. I will work for my children and take them back to our house," she said.
"I believe God will not revive al Shabaab again, because he is merciful."
Many regional observers expect al Shabaab, who said their retreat was tactical, to reemerge in Mogadishu, this time as guerrilla fighters rather than a conventional fighting force.
Still, many residents are optimistic for the future.
On Tuesday, hundreds of men, traditional white cloth wrapped around their bodies, gathered in a football stadium and engaged in Shirib, poetic short verse composed by some Somali clans. They jumped to the rhythm of their chants: "Come out for peace. Mogadishu's wounds are healed. Come out for peace."
Scratch My Back, Too By Salma Abdikarim Ayuub (Keydmedia)
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is lobbying to win a five presidential term after the current one is over next August 2011. It could prove a hard sale in a grey political scene in Somalia, but is a doable hurdle, especially when an ambitious politician is sitting on containers of USD cash money to buy his position. What are the political chips that Sherif Ahmed is basing on his political comeback theory?
Well, since the word corruption is not an aberration in the political reality in Somalia, whoever has more cash dollars stashed in his bedroom can buy a political capital with the people's funds. So the open season of political horse trading has begun in Garowe in the most infamous way.
Who are the political brokers? Abdiweli M. Ali Gas is one of them, and he is proud of doing the middleman. He is down to earth clan centered prime minister in the Somali history, and has been put there to serve the ambition of President Sherif and care the concerns of Puntland interest, where his loyalty lies.
Call it a calculated political equation of bridging clan-based political hegemony of its merit. Step one is a two way clear cut deal- Abdiweli has to bag in Farole support and bring him into the fold of Sherif Ahmed club. The math is so simple. Buy political favors and nail down an unprecedented political alliance.
As a trusted middleman, Abdiweli flew to Garowe on 27 August 2011 to buy Farole and handed over 2 million USD in cash, which was part of the negotiated deal. A day later on 28 August, President Sherif landed on Garowe Airport and paid off 3 million UDS in cash, which was the balance of the hush money to line up Puntland's support.
Dr. Mahiga was there, a favorite witness, grinning from check to check and blessing the deal and butting the backs of domineering stakeholders.
Everyone was happy of the brisk political business transaction: Within minutes, Sherif Ahmed had the political support of Farole under his belt. Farole has earned hefty cash bags in his bedroom; and Abdiweli will have reconfirmed position in the new government to be formed after August 2012.
As a loyal clan patriarch, Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was the happiest man of the outcome of the deal because he generated an easy cash so much needed for Puntland coffins- his ancestral land and political base, as well as carving a successfully extension of Abdiweli political clout as the next prime minster of the future government.
However, Galmudug is not happy of the deal because it did not get the attention and the respective slice of the cake. At the end, however, an evenhanded solicitation is the only way out that could propel Sherif Ahmed for a five year term, but he did not even asked Galmudug his political quest for his ambition, and Abdiweli ignored to have anything to do with his traditional clan foe.
However, Galmudug may cash in double of the political tribute Sherif Ahmed paid to Puntland, as well, but all depends how skillfully it carves its slice. Galmudug has the right to ask 5 million USD in cash, as well as an addendum sum of moral infraction tribute to a wronged political partner.
The question is who makes the necessary move? Alin who has been marginalized by Mahiga…? Abdiweli who harbors traditional enmity of Galmudug entity? President Sherif who see Galmudug as an easy sale…?
Unlike Puntland, currently Galmudug is in a strong political position to reckon with: It has tripled its political boundaries by including most of the clan denominations in the Central Regions of Somalia. There is also relative peace and stability in the land.
However, Galmudug is not a rubber stamp to be taken for granted, and both Dr. Mahiga and President Sherif may find it a broad-based giant to reckon with at head-counting political arena. As an equal political partner, Galmudug has to hold a foot in the horse-trading political arena in Somalia, and time is ticking.
(*)
Salma Abdikarim Ayuub – Columbus, Ohio - Keydmedia correspondent - can be reached via salma.a.ayuub[AT]keydmedia.net UNPOS holds historic meeting on Jubba regions (WGM)
A crucial meeting on Jubba regions in southern Somalia has been held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The meeting was organised by the UN Political Office for Somalia in a bid to asses the real situation in Jubba regions, and future plans of forming legal and all inclusive regional administration.
Among the groups attended the meeting were Wagosha Movement of Somalia, Jubba Salvation alliance, and representatives of self declared Jubbaland administrations, including so called Azania state led by Ethiopian refugee, Mohamed Abdi Mohamed alias Gandi.
"the stand of the indigenous and the genuine residents of Jubbaland is clear, and the only thing we want is to form all inclusive regional state for genuine Jubbaland people. So that we will not accept any hoax administration , like the so called Azania formed by Ogadenis from Ethiopia," Mberwa Muya Mberwa, an executive member of Wagosha Movement of Somalia said, as he spoke directly to Mohamed Abdi Gandi, who was present at the meeting.
Mr Mberwa asked how come an Ogadeni from Ethiopia was daring to involve in Somalia politics, while Somalis from Somalia do not have such rights when they go to Ethiopia or Kenya.
He warned Mohamed Abdi Gandi and his allies that Jubbaland residents will fight against them if they try to set a foot in these regions.
The indigenous people of Jubbaland have reiterated their full support of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and asked the government to take control of all forces currently operating in the region.
Speaking at the meeting Mohamed Abdi Gandi said that he does not recognize the Somali government, adding that he is the legitimate leader of Jubbaland.
But the UN officials rebuffed his claims and ordered him to bring his traditional elders at another meeting to be held in Nairobi in the coming few weeks.
The UN is planning to bring together all genuine traditional elders from Jubba regions in order to discuss the political future of their regions.
The UN move is big blow to Mohamed Gandi, because he will find it difficult to come up with any genuine elder at the upcoming meeting.
During the so called Azania conference in Nairobi backed by Kenyan Ogadeni politicians, Mohamed Abdi Gandi came with another refugee from Zone Five, Khalif Gure, whom he claimed was the head of Jubbaland traditional elders.
Chairman of Wagosha Movement of Somalia, Eng Yarow Sharif Aden has welcomed the UN initiatives toward Jubbaland regions, adding that Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, the UN special envoy to Somalia, will be remembered in the history for taking the right steps of resolving Somalia crisis.
Selling African misery to the West By Koert Lindijer (RNW)
The African Union has pledged more than 240 million Euro to feed hungry people in and around Somalia. Last week's long-delayed donor conference was the first such summit the pan-African body has ever held. In the end only four African heads of state turned up, begging the question: does Africa do enough to fight its own misery? Our correspondent in Nairobi argues that foreign journalists and aid workers embarrass African governments in the way they deal with this and other disasters. Dirty beggars disfigured by nasty skin diseases are an eyesore on the streets. So should they be removed to improve a country's image? Of course not. But should pictures of these beggars be included in a tourist brochure?
Cynical pressInternational networks and journalists shamelessly focus their cameras on hunger and death. African leaders are embarrassed. Ethiopia wants to get rid of its image as the famine capital of the world. That's one of the reasons its government has worked hard since 1991 towards guaranteeing food security. In his book
Famine and Foreigners, Ethiopia since Live Aid, Peter Gill describes how in 2003 and 2008 the government tried to keep famine victims away from Western cameras. And now it is reluctant to let foreign correspondents cover the food crisis in the Horn of Africa.
"Anyone here been raped and speaks English?" The title of this book by war correspondent Edward Behr reflected the cynicism in the press coverage of the violence in Congo in the early 1960s. Africa had only recently become independent and Western journalists found it difficult to write in an informed way about the continent. The de-colonisation of the Western mind had yet to begin.
Visible bones"Anyone here dying and speaks English?" Fifty years later this line haunts me during a visit to Dadaab, the refugee camp in Northern Kenya crammed with Somali refugees. Nobody knows the exact dimensions of the disaster. The epicentre lies in inaccessible territory in Somalia. There is no mass starvation in Dadaab, but the journalists need shocking images to reinforce their tales of misery so they go looking for death. There is no room for subtlety.
A staggering cow eating the straw from a nomadic dwelling, a desperate goat sucking the toes of his herder, these images may give an idea of the dimensions of the crisis for local cattle herders, but don't contain enough drama to titillate the dulled appetites of Western readers. So the reporter goes for the kill. "Put your baby a bit more in the light, please", a photographer asks a mother. And yes, take its clothes off - otherwise the bones are not visible.
SuperlativesAid workers larded their announcement of the disaster at the beginning of July with superlatives: the worst drought since, the biggest humanitarian tragedy now. And the ace in the pack: worse than 1984's famine in Ethiopia.
Referring to "the worst" seems the only way to get attention. Journalists copied the fundraisers' chorus of woe. Hunger caused by a war raging in Somalia became a famine in the entire Horn of Africa. Some media even started talking about "the famine in Africa".
FiguresWhen asked what he needed most, a Somali herder near the border with Kenya told me "I need respect". Do aid workers and journalists show respect for the victims when they toss around figures like "four million dead in Congo" or "hundreds of thousands killed in Darfur genocide".
When will figures become people? There is great suffering in Somalia, but how can aid workers claim that thousands of people have already died there because of the famine? Tens, hundreds, thousands? Is there a difference? Or have these calculations been made on the back of a matchbox to feed the journalists and the fund-raisers? It seems perfectly understandable that African leaders are reluctant to join the hype created around this serious food crisis.
Negative effects of aid to Somali drought victims By Drs Fatuma Lamungu (Keydmedia)
It's a fact that millions of Somalis are facing severe starvation in their country, due to drought that hit the war-torn country. The international community has shown its concern and launched massive relief works in Somalia and in the neighbouring countries, where thousands of Somalis have sought asylum.
But, many still remember how politics and clan division in the country affect any effort aimed at helping the poor people.
Food aid and genocide In 1991, when the civil war broke in the country, aid agencies tried to reach people with emergency aid, but that was not easy. Clan militants ensured that no aid so delivered to other clans they considered as rivals, and this has resulted deaths of thousands.
The worst thing was how the Somali local aid workers behaved in this crucial period, when they put aside the ethics and humanity, and instead decided to work with their clan militants to harass members of other clans.
A good example is Jubbaland, where the Darod clans carried out genocide against the majority Wagosha people. Thousands were killed mercilessly, just because they belonged to Wagosha community of Bantu origin.
Among the tactics used to massacre these innocent people was to deny them humanitarian aid. Most of the workers of the international aid agencies in Kismaayo at that time were from the Darod clan. The aid intended to help the poor people was sold and the money used to fund the military operations of General Mohamed Said Morgan and his brutal militants, who involved in killing the Wagosha people.
People who may know more on how aid was denied to Wagosha people include Abdiasis Osman Mohamud who worked with Somali Red Cross and ICRC. Abdiasis was in charge of the food aid to the poor people in Jubbaland, but he had never delivered any food to the poor people in Gosha areas.
Currently, Abdiasis Osman is living in Kenya as wealth businessman with an internet service company in the capital Nairobi. He has also mysteriously obtained Kenyan papers like ID and passport, although he was born in Somalia and served as primary school teacher there.
Abdiasis is also the right hand man and one of the financer of the self proclaimed Jubbaland leader, Mohamed Abdi Gandi, an Ethiopian refugee from Zone five, also known as "kilinka shanaad". Gandi has promised Abdiasis that he will be in charge of the aid services in Jubbaland, when his administration backed by Kenyan politicians of Ogaden clan take over the Jubba regions.
Another person who is worthy to question is Hersi Aynab, a former civil servant in Somalia, who later on worked with Somali Red Crescent and other aid agencies in Kismaayo. He is from Majerten clan and was a close ally of General Morgan and many believe he used the food aid to feed the militants of General Morgan who carried out genocide and other forms of atrocities against the poor civilians in Jubbaland.
Illegal settlement and famine In 1974, was hit by severe drought, and this was used as an excuse by the former dictator, Siyad Barre, to resettle thousands of Ethiopian refugees of Ogaden clan in Jubba regions in southern Somalia.
This trick of illegal settlement continues until today, whereby Mohamed Abdi Gandi and his allies are funding secret programs of settling Ogaden clan members from Ethiopia's Zone Five region to Jubba regions.
Employment opportunities in aid firms It has become a norm to see many aid agencies employing staff from few Somali clans, leaving out other clans with no option. Its not a bad idea to hire qualified staff who can perform their duties fairly among the society, even if they are all from one clan, but in a country like Somalia, where everything has to something to do with clan, such issues need to be considered carefully.
The agencies should hire people from all clans and this will facilitate the relief task of delivering food to Somali drought afflicted people.
Donor countries are using money from their tax payers, to help poor Somalis affected by drought and famine, but it's obvious that they will not be happy if they learn that their aid is being used for other purposes, including violation of human rights.
For the last twenty years the international community has gained experience on aid delivery in Somalia, and time has come to put appropriate measures to ensure that there is an accountability and commitment. This will also ensure that humanitarian aid is no longer used as political and military tool by warmongers, as happened in the past.
Local Somalis join IDP camps in search of food (IRIN)
More and more poor residents of Mogadishu are moving into camps set up there to house more than 100,000 displaced from other parts of the country by intensifying drought and the subsequent lack of food and other basic services, say aid workers and civil society representatives.
The number of Mogadishu families moving into camps has sharply increased in the past three weeks, officials say.
"Many of the families moving to camps are not much better [off] than the displaced; no one has reached their areas yet, they therefore decided to move to the camps to access help," Asha Ugas Sha'ur, a prominent member of civil society in Mogadishu, told IRIN.
She said many of the families had lived in areas formerly under the control of the insurgent Al-Shabab group, which withdrew from the city on 6 August. Some are long-term IDPs and residents who depended on income from daily work. "There are no jobs to be had and no other income," she added.
Sha'ur said some of them had gone for weeks without leaving their homes due to fighting. "Now they are coming out and they have nothing."Attracting the needy.
Abdulqadir Omar, the area manager for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which supports four camps in the Somali capital, with an estimated population of 3,000 families (18,000 people), told IRIN many of the new arrivals were from the city or the outskirts, "where aid has not reached yet".
Many families who were in IDP camps in the 30km-long Afgoye Corridor, which runs south from the city, are moving back to Mogadishu because there was not much help there, he said.
Omar said other families were setting up makeshift shelters inside the camps, a phenomenon known as "bush bariis" (roughly translated as rice huts). They "wait for a food distribution and go back home", he said. "This in itself is an indication of how desperate people are."
Ambaro* moved from her residence in the north of Mogadishu into a camp. Her neighbourhood was one of the last places Al-Shabab abandoned. "I moved because staying there meant starvation."
She used to find work in the markets but now they have been abandoned, "and I cannot feed my children. When I heard all those people coming to help the drought people I decided I was going to find help also."
Omar said aid agencies needed to find a way to reach those in need "inside the city and its outskirts".
"With the help given to the drought displaced we don't want to create resentment and hostility toward them," he said.
Reaching people where they are, Omar added, would also cut down on the number of people moving around. "We have huge movement of people and it all has to do with accessing food. If they know we will reach them, they will have no incentive to move."
Kiki Gbeho, head of office at OCHA Somalia, said the objective of the humanitarian community was to bring assistance to people in need wherever they were. "When people move from their homes in search of assistance they become extremely vulnerable and subject to all kinds of violations. The challenges are many, especially as over 100,000 IDPs have moved to Mogadishu in the last two months. We will continue to do all we can to assist them."
*not her real name
Iraqi flour to assist Somali people (Aswat al-Iraq)The Iraqi Cabinet approved sending a 22.5 thousand tons of Iraqi flour to Somali people, as stated by Iraqi government spokesman today.
Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, said in a statement, copy received by Aswat al-Iraq, that "the dispatch of Iraqi flour shall be sent through the ministry of trade to help the brotherly Somali people".
The Somali people are suffering from a real famine, which the worst in two decades, where a great number of casualties of children, elderly people and women, took place.
SA man linked to Somali militia, drugs By Julian Rademeyer
A shadowy South African businessman has been named as the financier of a 220-strong private Somali militia and a bizarre scheme to cultivate opium, coca and dagga in the war-torn country.
In a damning report last month to the UN Security Council, UN investigators accused two South African-linked companies – Southern Ace Ltd and Saracen International – of "egregious violations" of the arms embargo on Somalia.
The report named Paul Calder le Roux, "also known as Bernard John Bowlins", as a key figure in Southern Ace's activities and stated that although he was a "silent partner" in the company, he was "believed by law enforcement officials" to be the "actual owner".
Le Roux, believed to be based in the Philippine capital Manila, made headlines in 2008 when Media24 Investigations exposed his involvement in a bid to secure 99-year leases on farmland seized by the Zimbabwean government as part of its "land reform programme".
According to the UN report, Southern Ace, which is based in Hong Kong, joined forces with a Somali businessman, Liban Mohamed Ahmed, also known as Ottavio, in January 2009 to establish operations in central Somalia in the self-proclaimed Galmudug state.
Documents seen by investigators showed that between March and June 2009, at least $500 000 (R3.5m) was wired via Dubai from Le Roux's company in the Philippines, La Plata Trading, to cover "start-up costs".
The report estimated that between 2009 and 2011, Le Roux and his associates spent $3m in Somalia, including "$1m in militia salaries and more than $150 000 on arms".
Southern Ace recruited militia men from Ottavio's subclan, paying them $300 a month and equipping them with Kalashnikov rifles and light machine guns.
DrugsOttavio subsequently established another company that "began to experiment with the cultivation of hallucinogenic plants, including opium, coca and cannabis, initially at the Southern Ace compound".
A former Southern Ace employee told investigators two Philippine nationals, a Zimbabwean and a South African maintenance technician advised on cultivation.
By early last year, according to confidential UN reports, Southern Ace "operated a well-equipped, 220-strong militia supervised by a dozen Zimbabweans... with the potential to change the balance of power in the area".
The reports suggested that the Southern Ace force was involved in a number of battles, including fighting in November last year that raged for several days.
The report claimed that in March last year Le Roux planned to import 75kg of C4 explosives, 2 000 landmines, a million rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and anti-tank missiles to the region.
The delivery never took place after a dispute between Le Roux and Ottavio, when "Le Roux realised he was paying his militiamen almost twice the market rate".
Ottavio and three local Southern Ace employees were jailed for three weeks following the shooting of a Southern Ace employee earlier this year and the firm's assets, including weapons, were divided among local militias.
Repeated attempts to contact Le Roux by phone and e-mail proved unsuccessful.
Saracen InternationalThe report was also highly critical of the involvement of another South African-linked company, Saracen International, in the country, saying its operations represented a "significant violation of the general and complete arms embargo on Somalia" and "constituted a threat to peace and security".
Backed by notorious Blackwater founder Erik Prince and Abu Dhabi officials, Saracen gained a foothold in the semi-autonomous Puntland in northern Somalia to train an anti-piracy marine force.
Key figures in Saracen included Bill Pelser, a former South African special forces soldier, and Lafras Luitingh, a former operative in the apartheid government's notorious Civil Co-operation Bureau, and a founder member of the defunct mercenary firm Executive Outcomes.
South Africa's permanent mission to the UN failed to respond to official requests for further information from investigators, and attempts to reach Saracen for comment were also fruitless.
Send tip-offs to Media24's investigations team at investigations@media24.com. Somalis sent back under strict conditions (RNW)
The Netherlands will only send failed asylum seekers from Somalia back to southern or central Somalia if strict conditions are met. Immigration minister Gerd Leers has told parliament in a letter that no one will be sent back if they are unable to live by the rules laid down by the Islamic organisation Al-Shabaab. They will also need to have family or contacts who can offer them protection when they return.
The capital Mogadishu is already regarded as too dangerous for failed asylum seekers to return to. People from Mogadishu and south and central Somalia may not be sent back to Puntland or Somaliland in the north if they do not have family there or strong links with local clans.
The minister also acknowledges that the situation in local refugee camps is too dire for returnees from the Netherlands to be housed there. Single women, unaccompanied children and non-Somali minorities may not be sent back at all.
The minister was forced to clarify the position regarding the repatriation of people to Somalia following a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. The court held that Somalia was too dangerous for the United Kingdom to send two convicted criminals back there.
THE ORDEAL OF NIGEL BRENNAN AND AMANDA LINDHOUT IN SOMALIA Extraordinary personal stories from around the world with Matthew Bannister. (BBC)
The experiences of Australian photo-journalist Nigel Brennan. He was kidnapped in Somalia along with a Canadian colleague Amanda Lindhout in August 2008 and held hostage for 462 days.
Meanwhile his family were desperately trying to raise a ransom of $3m.
We hear from Nigel and his sister Nicky who negotiated with the kidnappers.
Nuruddin Farah's "Crossbones"
How to Survive in Somalia by Charles R. Larson (CounterPunch)
How ironic that just as the famine has continued to worsen in Somalia and the West has responded in its usual tepid way, Nuruddin Farah has published a new novel, perhaps the major work of his impressive career. During his early years as a writer, Farah had to live in exile. The country's thuggish president, Mohammed Siad Barre (1969-1991), didn't appreciate any criticism. Only after Barre was no longer in power could the writer return to his beloved country, though ever since then Somalia has generally been called a failed state because of a continual state of civil war. The Islamist Al-Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government, known as the Courts, fight it out, with periodic threats of war with its neighbor, Ethiopia.
Crossbones is set to events of the last few years, well after the botched American invasion of Mogadiscio (1992). For further context, it is worth quoting two paragraphs from an op-ed piece ("A New Famine, Born of the Old") Farah published in The Washington Post (July 31st): "After the United States left Somalia, the rest of the world stood by, leaving the warlords to profit from their criminality. Al-Qaeda strengthened its presence in the country. Foreign vessels entered Somalia waters and engaged in illegal fishing, which caused piracy to balloon into an ugly reality. Somalia lived on mortgaged time, leased out to criminals of one sort or another, an ideal world for terrorists to flourish.
"If we had had foresight and acted upon it; if the Marines had disarmed the warlords; if the U.N. Security Council had issued arrest warrants for the warlords early on, stopping them from prolonging the failure of the state; if the Security Council had dealt with the warlords—who had denied millions of starving people access to food—decisively, in the same way it dealt with the genocidal regimes in Serbia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan, then al-Qaeda would not have established a secure base from which to plan terrorist attacks. Our country would not have been hamstrung by the enormity of our problem, nor would it have become the world's worst humanitarian disaster."
If—that mysterious, unfathomable, word for most Americans.
Interestingly, the major characters in Crossbones are Somali Americans, who—in spite of the menacing issues of safety—return to the country of their birth to visit family and friends. Malik has an added reason, since he is a successful journalist who has covered numerous troubled spots around in world. He is accompanied by his father-in-law, Jeebleh, at the time of the recent Ethiopian invasion. The two of them fly into Mogadiscio, fully aware of the risk Malik is making as a practicing journalist. Then there's Malik's brother, Ahl, who flies into Puntland, theoretically the safest part of the "country," in search of his stepson, Taxliil. Still a teenager, the boy was recruited in Minnesota by a radical imam and is suspected of undergoing training as a suicide bomber.
Those are the American characters, all of Somalia background, who Farah convincingly employs to explore day-to-day issues of survival in a failed state: no central government but groups fighting one another and—for too many of his Somali characters—content with the dicey situation because they are free to do what they want, without paying taxes, or beholden to anyone. There are also the riff-raff who have fled a number countries because of their unsavory pasts. Safety is, obviously, a major issue, and it is Farah's description of the menacing environment that is so spooky and unsettling in what quickly becomes a very tense story. Here, for example, the airport in Mogadiscio, as Malik and Jeebleh arrive: "A rope is strung across the middle of the hall, separating arrivals and departures. In the departures area, some fifty or so cheap plastic chairs are clustered in the corner, presumably for the use of passengers waiting to board their flights. In the arrivals area, a disorderly queue is forming as the first passengers scramble to clear the formalities. With no luggage carousels or carts, no trained personnel at Immigration and Customs, there is no knowing how things might pan out, no knowing what these robed, bearded men might or might not do." Or whom to trust about entering the country.
Leaving the airport, Jeebleh thinks, "One loses one's sense of direction in a city that has suffered civil war savageries…." At night, there are the eerie sounds of American drones overhead, of explosions in the distance. As one of his friends tells him, "The city has undergone many changes, in the residents it attracts and in the services it renders or doesn't render anymore." The narrator observes, "Here, a set of dirt alleys leading in a maze of dead ends. There, hummocks of rubble accumulated over the years through the neglect and lack of civic maintenance; kiosks, mere shacks, built bang in the center of what was once a main thoroughfare, now totally blocked. 'How this city could do with the return of law and order in the shape of a functioning state!'"
Mysterious "repair" men appear in hotel rooms, though they seem to have no connection to the people managing the hotels. Much of the city closes down each afternoon as men take off for a few hours to chew qaat. The people Jeebleh, Malik, and Ahl need to interact with appear to live double lives, professing to be one thing yet hinting at another. There are shades of Kafka's world in much of the story, particularly for Ahl, who has to work with pirate funders in order to track down his step-son. Suddenly, the novel segues into a thriller, and the reader begins to wonder if any of Farah's characters will be able to return safely to the United States. Malik's situation is particularly fearful once he learns that there is a concerted effort to kill foreign journalists, though it is unclear if the threat is from Shabaab, the Courts, or both. All at once, you discover that you are reading faster and faster to discover which characters are going to escape such a frightful environment.
I have purposely avoided a summary of the plot. This is appropriate, in part, because of Farah's many observations about the tensions between Islam and the West, as well as his own pride in a country that much of the world has written off. Here, for example, one brief observation by a character identified as a professor at Puntland State University about suicide bombers and the men who train them: ""No priest is prepared to pay the ultimate price for Islam through self-sacrifice himself. Nor do any of them put forward their own children to die for the cause for which they claim to be fighting; only other people's sons and brothers."
Crossbones is a treasure trove of wisdom by one of Africa's greatest writers. The novel engages simultaneously on several levels, including the stories of those who have never left the country but developed inventive coping skills for dealing with constant turmoil. Although the setting is Somalia, Nuruddin Farah's novel is a disturbing slice-of-life about day-to-today living conditions in any number of North African and Middle Eastern countries. The story has been ripped out of the pages of current news and the lives of real people caught in the cross fires of tribalism, factionalism, fundamentalism and modernity. Is Farah's Somalia a picture of the past or the future?
(*)
Charles R. Larson is Emeritus Professor of Literature at American University, in Washington, D.C. Crossbones By Nuruddin Farah Riverhead, 400 pages, $27.95
Somali goats in demand (TheOmanDailyObserver)
Soaring demand for relatively affordable Somali goats has all but ended the long-standing dominance of Australian livestock as the preferred source of fresh meat for the traditional Eid al Fitr family meal, thanks to the skyrocketing cost of imports from Down Under. According to local dealers, Australian sheep, which have long held sway over the livestock market in the Sultanate, have now given way to goats from the Horn of Africa, as well as some volumes of imported cattle.
Contributing in large part to the changed market dynamics is the escalating cost of Australian sheep, which currently retails at RO 85 per head, against a price of RO 65 exactly a year ago. The roughly 30 per cent increase — the steepest since imports from Australia began more than two decades ago — is attributed to a sharp rise in the value of the Australian dollar. Surging global demand has also buoyed prices of Australian sheep, it is learnt.
Unlike in past years when seasonal Ramadhan and Eid demand was typically met by a flurry of livestock consignments from Australia, Port Sultan Qaboos recorded only one shipment this time around. The shipment, destined for Al Batna Livestock — the Sultanate's largest importer and distributor — comprised a mere 6,500 head of sheep, which was far lower than the numbers procured in previous years to meet the demands of the holy month and the festive Eid holiday.
According to a company representative, the steep cost was a key factor in limiting imports. "We settled for a smaller shipment because we didn't want to be saddled with large numbers of unsold sheep procured at premium prices. Moreover, we're seeing a shift in demand from pricier Australian sheep to less expensive goats from Somalia and Yemen, as well as cattle imports from the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. All of these supplies put together are helping ensure that the market is well-supplied ahead of the key Eid holiday."
While livestock shipments to Oman are down to a trickle, supplies to other consuming countries of the GCC bloc continue to be strong as importers capitalise on subsidies offered by their governments on meat sales during the holy month. The subsidy, applicable to fresh meat sold on a retail basis, is an incentive for importers to augment supplies from Australia.
"Australian exporters are quite happy to supply Gulf countries that place large orders on their produce. There are better margins earned by both sides when the consignments are large.Consequently, preference is given to countries that import large quantities. And because of a sharp demand-supply imbalance, smaller importing countries are often given short-shrift in this situation," a market dealer explained.
Also expected to weigh on margins earned by importers and distributors in the Sultanate is the price cap introduced by the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP). On Saturday, the consumer watchdog announced a ceiling of RO 85 per head of Australian sheep sold in Muscat Governorate, and RO 90 on animals marketed in the regions of the country.
The price freeze does not apply to Somali goats, which according to livestock dealers, account for around 70 per cent of the domestic demand for live animals. Omani families typically purchase live animals whose meat is shared among relatives during Eid — a tradition that fuels the thriving livestock market in the Sultanate.
Of late, however, Somali goats have emerged as the market's preferred choice — for cost reasons alone. At between RO 35-40 a head, they sell at roughly half the cost of a standard-sized Australian sheep, although in weight-terms, the latter is twice as heavy. Nevertheless, Somali goats are generally seen as affordable by a majority of families long accustomed to the purchase of a live animal for their Eid festive meal.
Unlike Australian livestock imports, which is an organised commercial activity, Somali goats find their way into the Omani market largely via a flourishing dhow trade centring on Salalah in the south. Some quantities of cattle from the Horn of Africa are also making their way into the Sultanate, catering to a segment of the population that finds fresh lamb far pricier than fresh beef.
- FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD (with an influence on Somalia and the water wars)
: "We're fighting terrorists, pirates, and militias. What happened to the days when we fought uniformed armies?" SEE ALL THE ARTICLES BELOW LIKE A PICTURE, A COLLAGE AND LET THE MAIN COLOUR SINK IN. THEN LISTEN TO THE FINE TUNES AND DETAILS AND COME TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. WE TRY TO BALANCE THE FALSE PICTURE IMPLANTED INTO YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS BY THE MAINSTREAM'S RULERS - THE POWERS THAT BE. .- / .- / .- .- .=
KENYA-SOMALIA: Border town feels the refugee pressure (IRIN)
As Somali refugees continue to pour into Kenya, pressure is mounting on the government to quickly re-open a transit centre to not only ease their hardship but to take pressure off residents of Liboi, a border town closest to Dadaab, the world's largest refugee complex.
Kenyans hosting the new arrivals, donors, human rights organizations and aid agencies have been leaning on the Kenyan authorities to assist the refugees with food and medical help, and to resume screening them for security threats.
The drought-triggered crisis that has affected both countries has left the local host community in Liboi feeling less hospitable, as they are obliged to share limited food and water resources with the new arrivals.
Another concern is the lack of screening of refugees, leaving locals worried about security threats from Al-Shabab insurgents, as well as disease. Outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea and measles have been reported in Somalia's capital.
Until Kenya officially closed its border with Somalia in January 2007 as a security measure, Liboi, a dusty town about 18km from the frontier and 80km from Dadaab, was the major transit and screening centre for refugees. At least 200,000 Somalis passed through the town during the early 1990s. Transport to Daadab saved refugees a difficult trek through the desert.
The suspension of screening proved unpopular with NGOs and UN agencies as it effectively trapped refugees in the nearby town of Dobley. [
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=71164 ] But refugees have continued to stream in, vulnerable to abuse either by bandits or Kenyan law enforcement officials, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Neela Ghosal, a researcher with HRW, said Somalis cited police extortion, violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, and unlawful deportation to Somalia during their trek to Dadaab.
Last year, Dadaab received an average of 6,000 to 8,000 Somalis every month, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In 2011, the monthly average increased to 10,000, with more than 55,000 new arrivals since the beginning of the year, dropping to 700-800 daily in the past few weeks, according to some agencies. [
http://www.unhcr.org/4e0475f69.html ]
Benedicte Goderiaux, an Africa researcher with Amnesty, said the Kenyan government had failed to respond to the protection needs of the refugees.
Host community
The Kenyan government has been divided over the need to provide protection for the refugees or deter the influx that could also include Al-Shabab militants by keeping the borders officially closed.
Since famine was declared in Somalia in July, refugee numbers have soared, leading to increased concern among Kenyans living near the border.
"It is not that we don't want to share our food - how can we not help women and children sitting under the tree in the open and hungry?" asked Dekow Mohammed, chair of Leboi's water and sanitation committee, when IRIN visited the town.
"We share the same faith, we are all [ethnically] Somalis but we are also affected by the drought - we pay for our water which we share with them," he said.
"But these people have been sitting here for two days now - what if they are carrying some weapons in their bags? What if they have a disease? We have to think about our people as well," added Mohammed.
When IRIN visited Liboi on 14 August, 262 Somalis, mostly women and children, sat under trees - the largest number to arrive in recent weeks.
Liboi is only of the several border towns; the others are Mandera and El Wak. Despite the border closure, local authorities have allowed local trade and movement in most instances at their own discretion.
Security concerns
Badu Katelo, Kenya's acting commissioner for refugees, maintained that the borders had never been closed for refugees.
Katelo told IRIN the government was poised to re-open the reception centre and resume screening Somali refugees in Liboi. He said the situation had improved along the border, where the Somali Transitional Federal Government was in control.
The centre and screening facilities could be operational again within a few weeks. "The modalities are still being worked out but we will have a small registration process [at the new centre] - where we will do short profiles of people." The screening will include a medical examination and a security check. The centre will be run by UNHCR, he said.
Emmanuel Nyabera, UNHCR spokesman, said the agency was in negotiations with the government and the "centre and screening facilities will open soon". He said they hoped to provide medical assistance and some food to the new arrivals.
After the official screening the refugees can now be transported to Dadaab. A small accommodation area is also in the works, said Katelo, for refugees who cannot be moved within 24 hours.
But some aid workers regard the announcement with some apprehension, saying some government officials feel the re-opening would encourage more people to come to Kenya.
"We are not going to open transit centres in other border towns - we will only limit it to Liboi," maintained Katelo.
[N.B.: ECOTERRA Intl. added that legitimate prima facie refugees with valid UNHCR protection letters are locked up in Kenya jails e.g. in the hinterlands of Lamu, while UNHCR, who has been informed, but obviously is lacking the will and capacity in one of it's core mandates, tends to outsource the follow up to local NGOs, who usually do nothing and do not stand up against Kenya police atrocities in collusion with corrupt local courts. While wealthy Somalis mostly get their next of kin free fast against money, especially the penniless members of Somali minorities then rot in these jails unattended.]
press releaseUNHCR Issues an Emergency Public Service Announcement for the Horn of Africa (UNHCR)
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has issued an emergency public service announcement (PSA) for the Horn of Africa.
In the last three months, 30,000 children have died from drought and starvation in the Horn of Africa. The High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has called the famine, in this war affected country, the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. The video invites viewers to contribute to UNHCR's urgent life saving efforts by donating any amount immediately.
The emergency PSA comes out at the same time as UNHCR's assessment of the four refugee camps in Ethiopia revealed death rates in Kobe camp reaching alarming levels. On average, 10 children under the age of five have died every day since the refugee camp opened in June.
UNHCR has asked for over $144 million in urgently needed aid for life saving emergency response and to provide shelter and protection. Of this, $8.6 million is slated for expanded aid projects inside Somalia. UNHCR is one of the few organizations that has access and staff inside Somalia and has stated that delivering urgently needed humanitarian aid inside Somalia will save lives. To date, only 68% of the emergency appeal has been funded. Without continued funds, UNHCR's crucial work could be in jeopardy. UNHCR and its fundraising partners are urging Americans, if they can, to contribute to this crisis.
UNHCR has timed the release of the PSA to coincide with a visit this week of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to the Horn of Africa.
For just $10, a family is provided with 4 water containers. A donation of $50 provides therapeutic emergency feeding kits to 5 families and a donation of $345 covers the cost of a tent to shelter a family.
Donations of any amount can be made at
www.UNrefugees.org , or individuals can text "Somalia" to 80000 to make a $10 donation. Donating any amount immediately to the US Association for UNHCR will support UNHCR's efforts in the Horn of Africa emergency. All gifts to USA for UNHCR are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Please download the 30 second PSA from the following links and help promote as widely as possible this urgent call for help to the American public.
Embedded Video Available:
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http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1716472 Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1716480 For media inquiries contact: Charity Tooze Senior Communication Officer Ph.
(202) 243-7623 Cell.
(510) 410-4937 Email.
tooze@unhcr.org 1775 K Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20006
mailto:tooze@unhcr.org Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc.
Underreported and Unchecked: Sexual Violence Against Somali Refugee Women by Yifat Susskind, MADRES (
rhrealitycheck.org)
Amal* left her village in Somalia when she realized that there was nothing left there for her. There was no food and no water. So she gathered her emaciated children and began the long trek to the refugee camps in northeastern Kenya. She thought that being forced to leave her home would be the worst thing to ever happen to her.
That was until she was attacked and raped by bandits on the way.
I recently returned from Kenya, where Somali women and families are seeking refuge by the thousands. I met with Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji of MADRE's sister organization, Womankind Kenya, a grassroots women's organization of Somali pastoralists. We talked about the most urgent needs for famine refugees—for food and water—and about how MADRE and Womankind Kenya can work together to provide for them.
And Hubbie told me about Amal and other women like her, who are arriving in northeastern Kenya traumatized not only from famine and displacement—but also from being raped along the trek.
Sexual Violence Rising in Famine-Struck East Africa Women and girls seeking refuge at displacement camps must walk for days, along the long and dangerous routes to the Somalia-Kenya border. Bandits and Al-Shabaab militia patrol much of southern Somalia and have infiltrated deep into Kenya, often attacking women and their families to steal the few possessions they have. In Amal's case, they took the only piece of gold jewelry she had ever owned. She had been hoping to trade it for food.
In these attacks, women have been raped. Even once they arrive at the displacement camps in Kenya, they are not safe. They need food and water, but there is not enough to go around. Many are turned away for lack of resources, relegated to the outskirts of the camps. There, local communities are struggling, not only to sustain themselves through drought and famine, but to offer aid to even harder hit famine refugees from Somalia. The women of Womankind Kenya come from these very communities and have long been mobilizing to confront this famine.
Even as refugees fight to survive, the threat of sexual violence persists. Women and girls are especially vulnerable when they venture out in search of firewood for cooking. As more refugees pour into the area, women must walk farther to find wood, putting them at greater risk of rape. In the area of Dadaab, now the biggest refugee camp in the world, violence against women and girls has quadrupled in the past six months.
Grassroots organizations like Womankind Kenya are a lifeline for rape survivors, especially those who have been turned away from the camps. These women are isolated and vulnerable, cut off from the communities of support they might once have had. Womankind Kenya can do more than meet their pressing needs for food and water. They can speak to women in their own language, breaking through their isolation to offer them care and a new source of support to lean on.
Looking ForwardWe've seen this surge in sexual violence after disaster many times before. We saw it after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, after the massive flooding of 2005's Hurricane Katrina and after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In each of these cases and many more, major disasters uproot communities and leave women and girls vulnerable to violence, including rape and sexual assault. In the chaos and loss of social cohesion that routinely follow disaster, women and girls in places as far afield as Somalia, Nicaragua or the United States are rendered more vulnerable to sexual attack.
To combat this rise in sexual violence, MADRE partners with local women's organizations around the world that know well the gender-specific threats women and girls face after conflict and disaster – organizations like Womankind Kenya.
Now, Hubbie explained to me, Womankind Kenya is working to fill the gap in access to counseling services and medical care for rape survivors. MADRE is working with them to set up a mobile clinic to bring essential services to refugee women and their families. They will collaborate with local doctors and nurses, who they have worked with before, to reach out to women who need care. They will help women overcome fear of stigma by offering counseling and medical services that respect women's privacy, and they will help women find their path to recovery.
When the women of Womankind Kenya reached out to Amal, she had all but given up hope. She had just arrived and was living at the edge of a camp. She had nothing, after having been robbed by her attackers. Womankind Kenya gave her emergency food and water, and what's more, they listened to her story. It was only a first step but an essential one—for Amal and all of the refugee women and girls traumatized by rape.
*
Not her real name
Protect Somali refugee women from gun-toting rapists in Kenya! The situation in Somalia is tragic beyond words. The country has been drowning in anarchy and civil war for the past twenty years, creating problems such as endemic violence, child soldier recruitment, a lack of public services and education, and a stymied economy.
Now, the most severe famine in 60 years has hit the region, and as starving women flee with their children to Kenyan refugee camps, they are often attacked by armed gangs. Tragically, this risk of sexual assault doesn't end when they limp, traumatized and weakened, within camp borders.
Sign this petition to urge the Kenyan government and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to more effectively govern these Somali refugee camps in order to miminize the rape risk for women.» Margot Wallstrom, the United Nations (UN) Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, expressed deep concern this weekend over spiking rates of sexual assault in the edges of these camps.
Women who leave their rickety tents to go to the bathroom or head into the bush to collect firewood are most at risk, as men with guns prowl at night.
Join us in calling on the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to initiate assistance programs that will do more to protect these vulnerable Somali women!» Thanks for taking action!
Ellyn
ThePetitionSite
Take action link:
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AgPOp/zl8T/Ateov Lest We Forget: The Faces Of Impunity, Corruption By Yash Pal Ghai (NairobiStar) The Kenya Human Rights Commission recently launched an important and timely report,
Lest We Forget: The Faces of Impunity in Kenya.The report is written against the backdrop of massive corruption and accompanying oppression, and the resulting culture of impunity that have characterised the system of politics and government since independence. Its aim is to bring to account the perpetrators of corruption, ethnic violence, land grabbing and other violations of the law, particularly human rights—a special concern of the KHRC. The ways in which these practices violate human rights of individuals and communities is obvious: poverty, exclusion, landlessness, ethnic fights threatening human security, impossibility of getting justice in the courts against the rich and the powerful, lack of a fair prosecution system, and the perversion of justice.
The KHRC has hit upon an interesting methodology to seek accountability and punishment for these violations, namely by mining existing, official reports. Despite widespread impunity, a considerable amount of evidence has been marshalled against the perpetrators by official processes, through commissions of enquiry or parliamentary committees, or other forms of investigation—these implicate the highest officials, including presidents. Based on the evidence, they should be prosecuted and their ill gotten gains recovered. That this evidence can be gathered reflects one of the several contradictions of the Kenya system.
The state is thoroughly criminalised. It serves to create wealth for a handful of politicians, bureaucrats and business people; and to shelter them from the reach of the law. It performs these functions by a systematic violation of the constitution and the law. Much of the edifice for this is built on illegality. But the inconsistency of these practices with constitutional values produces a fundamental contradiction. Deeply repressed, people are driven to put pressure on the government to deal with the more outrageous transgressions of rights. For the most part the government can ignore such pressure—but not always. When it cannot, it resorts to the typical device of delay, even obfuscation—an enquiry, firmly under the control of the government. The Reports examines several of these enquiries (on ethnic clashes, so clearly promoted by politicians (Akiwumi), land grabbing (Ndungu, prematurely terminated but not before the incrimination of the highest in the land), Goldenberg (Bosire), Grand Regency (Cockar), Artur Brothers (Parliament), two enquiries on the Ouko killing, the maize inquiry and more. Most were suppressed and are still "confidential" but have somehow found their way into the public domain.
Another contradiction then surfaces—the framework of transparency and public participation, more so in commissions of enquiry than parliamentary committees. The enquirers cannot entirely ignore the evidence, often given in public (though they can fudge a little, and expunge names of suspects like Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi). The president can lock away reports of commissions under the inquiries legislation (but not legally now under the new constitution); this is a bit more difficult with parliamentary committees, but even there intimidation or money (frequently both) can ensure no key person is embarrassed. The most wonderful and terrifying example of this—showing the enormous corruption of state institution, in this case the judiciary—concerns the way in which the wealth of a senior minister was effectively laundered through a court, by curious legal principles enabling it to re-write the commission report, exonerating the minister.
Reading the KHRC Report one realises what an extensive and dense network of senior officials of every state institution operates to steal from the state and the private sector, how they mutually support and shield each other from prosecutions and other punishments (by the simple expedience of co-opting the prosecutor into their pursuits), and thus wield a firm hold over the state apparatus—no separation of powers here. The enquiries produce evidence of dishonesty, arbitrariness and thefts by presidents, ministers, ex-ministers, parliamentarians (more numerous than I had suspected), senior parliamentary staff, bureaucrats (lots of permanent secretaries), police (at the highest levels), commanders of the armed forces, district and provincial administrators, diplomats, senior officials of Central and commercial banks, and other parastatals, chief justices and other senior judges, intelligence services, mayors, town clerks and their subordinates, and the children of the above (especially presidents) and their business associates. Truly mind boggling. Among the people identified by various commissions are household names, such as J and U Kenyatta, D Moi, Saitoti, Biwott, Ntimama, I Ruto, W Ruto, Pattni, Wilson Boinett, Sally Kosgey, Henry Kosgey, Michuki, Muthaura, Hussein Ali, Mary Wambui, Balala, Okemo, Sunkuli, Kulei, Mohamed Yusuf Hajj and so on. If the allegations are justified (and remember the allegations are made after thorough inquiries, often by bodies appointed by the government), none of them would be qualified to hold public office under the Constitution's rules on leadership and integrity. Yet they currently, despite internal differences, have a complete stranglehold over the state. In these circumstances political, economic and social reforms are impossible.
The KHRC calls for those against whom evidence has been found to be tried. Its recommendations for legal reform have resonances with the approach and substance of the new Constitution. And yet, one year later, it is clear that we have made no real progress in the fight against corruption and impunity. Land grabbing has increased with a vengeance, and the Ministry of Lands is able to say without embarrassment that it can do nothing about the massive corruption within the ministry that facilitates the grabbing, the falsification of titles, the forgery of deeds—and the huge sums of money that are exchanged every day to lubricate the machine that we call the Ministry of Lands.
The situation in other sectors is scarcely better. The police continue to extort bribes, turn a blind eye to corruption, abduct people in broad daylight, prefer to kill rather than arrest suspects, in front of terrified spectators, secure in the knowledge that they are untouchable. Drug barons walk (or more accurately, drive in huge limousines), hobnobbing with leaders of the government s and the corporate world. The government sends innocent Kenyans abroad to be tortured without accountability to the public or the courts. The tendering process is ignored or violated daily. All these and many other violations of the constitution and the law have become central to the way the state functions.
The implementation of the Constitution is in the hands of those deeply opposed to its values and procedure—and they (many of whom are listed in the enquiries) have ensured through appointing their protégées to commissions and public services that the new constitution will be rendered toothless. On the first anniversary of the constitution, it is time to turn to its real guardians, the people, victims of the harsh edge of the criminalised state, for the direction and impetus for reform.
(*) PROF. YASH PAL GHAI is a director with the Katiba Institute.KENYA: NGOs plot to block new GMO laws By John Muchangi (exc.NairobiStar)
The fight over GMOs reached a defining moment last week after the government finally gazetted rules to allow the controversial foods into Kenya. The regulations have been on hold since President Kibaki assented to the Biosafety Act in 2009. Scientists pushing for acceptance of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Kenya have declared this a major victory.
But the gazettement now opens a new battlefront, with activists and a group of opposing scientists plotting court actions to block the regulations. "Fears by Kenyans are well founded," says Prof Moni Wekesa, an expert in law, science and technology at Mount Kenya University. "Those dealing in GMOs are driven by profits, we look at the risks," he said at a recent public forum organised by the university.
The new laws however impose stringent testing and evaluation procedures for GM products, and an importer will only get clearance at least three months after application. The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) will license for up-to ten years such importers provided their products have no negative effects on the environment, says the authority head, Dr Roy Mugiira. The regulations impose a fine of not less than Sh20 million or a jail term of 10 years, or both, on anyone found planting imported GM seed illegally.NBA, the body that will regulate all GMO activities, says Kenyans are now well covered and have nothing to fear.
But groups opposing GMOs say the debate has simply moved a notch higher. "It's not over yet," says Anne Maina, coordinator of the Africa Biodiversity Network, a regional network of groups opposed to GMOs. Anne says they have not decided their next move but claims the standards fail to address some basic concerns they raised. "Unfortunately, the regulations do not even specify how the labeling should be done," she says. Scientists generally agree foods with GM traces should be labeled so people make informed choices.
In Kenya foods will only be labeled as genetically modified if they have GM traces exceeding five per cent."The information must be factual, accurate and clearly intended to enlighten consumers; it must not mislead or deceive," says Public Health minister Beth Mugo. About 40 to 50 countries around the world have mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods, including many European countries, Japan, Korea, and China. But until they agreed to do so last month, USA - the main source of genetic engineering technology - and Canada did not require GMOs to be labeled.
The ministry of public health however feels Kenya lacks adequate equipment and human resource to test toxicity and whether foods are GM. This means the country may rely on certification from source markets when allowing importation. Dr Stephen Runo, a biotechnology and molecular biologist at Kenyatta University, however finds this notion misleading. He says you only need a simple immunology test. "The test is a simple process similar to the HIV test. This is something the NBA and Kephis ( Kenya Plant Inspectorate Service) can do," says Runo. A normal HIV test produces reliable results within five minutes.
GM plants are usually modified in the lab to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. For example, according to leading geneticist Dr Njiru Nthakanio, one can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert it into a different plant. The new plant will be drought tolerant. "Genes can also be transferred from animals and insects to plants. The best known example of this is the use of Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) genes in maize and other crops," says Dr Njiru, also a biotechnology lecturer at Kenya Polytechnic University College.
Bt is a bacterium that kills insects such as the European corn borer. Bt maize is the most likely variety importers will bring to Kenya later this year once they are cleared by the NBA. Some scientists warn that there is not enough evidence, for instance, to show that Bt toxins are harmless once they accumulate in a human body. "Some GM crops are toxic to weeds, what else can they kill?" asks Prof Jasper Imungi, a food scientist and former dean at faculty of agriculture in the University of Nairobi. "There is also a possibility of development of super weeds which will be difficult to manage."
According to geneticist Prof Marion Mutugi, Kenyans have every right to know the composition of the foods being imported. "A tool like a panga has no moral value. You can use it to harvest a banana and you can use it to chop someone's head. So like the panga, the moral value of biotechnology depends on its use," she says.
Geneticists are the experts unlocking the last few secrets of life. They are the guys who are now developing GMOs. They specialise in medicine, agriculture and crime. Prof Mutugi, who lectures at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, argues that Kenyans deserve to know what genes have been inserted into the common maize that will be imported. "Secondly, we need to know the manufacturers of this gene. This will help us determine the history of the company in respect to its adherence to GRPs (good research practices)," she says.
Prof Mutugi further says exporters should reveal the country of origin of the maize and where the technology is registered. Also important to know is whether people in those countries consume the maize."This information will help us decide of whether this is a case of dumping," she says. Farmers have also expressed fears of contamination of their indigenous varieties once GM foods are grown in Kenya. American GM seed producer Monsanto has severally sued farmers in US and Canada when traces of GM maize were found in their non-GM farms following cross pollination, and others for saving seeds for the next season.
Monsanto banned seed saving among farmers and required that clients buy new seed from the company every season. Local farmers and experts fear this will arise if GM maize is finally grown commercially in Kenya.Wekesa says nothing prevents companies from creating seed cartels in Kenya in future. "Genetic engineering is a sin," says Prof Imungi. "It was added to the Catholic church's list of seven cardinal sins in 2008," he adds. The new-age sins, published after 1,500 years, include polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, paedophilia and causing social injustice.
For best info on GMOs go to:
http://www.biosafetyafrica.org.za/Please report any clandestine GMO-contaminated food imports to office@ecoterra-international.org and we will follow up. Independent investigations into GMO contamination and pesticide residues can be requested.
The Committee of the UN Human Rights Council clearly sees the contamination of food sources with GMOs as human rights violation and demanded in its last session (2011, Geneva) even from countries like Germany a full report detailing what the government is doing to protect citizens from the health risks associated with GMOs.
Coca-Cola gives $1.4m to support victims of Horn of Africa drought (PR)
The Business Unit of Coca-Cola's Central, East & West operations has donated $1.4 million towards hunger relief efforts in the Horn of Africa for the three countries that have been hit: Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.
The company says the money will be used for the provision of water, basic food and critical medicines with a special focus on children.
"Significant portions of the funds will be administered in Kenya as the country grapples with twin problems of its own food challenges as well as the support it is giving to its neighbor, Somalia," said Coca-Cola in a press release copied to
ghanabusinessnews.com.
The funds contributed from The Coca-Cola Foundation, Company bottling partners and employees will be administered by the Kenya Red Cross, Ethiopia Red Cross and Somali Red Crescent.
The Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company, parent company of Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana donated $100,000 towards the relief effort.
"As a business with operations spanning across the Horn of Africa, we and our bottling partners strongly believe that the scale and magnitude of this crisis demands collaborative effort from all," Nathan Kalumbu, Coca-Cola's President for Central, East and West Africa was cited in the release as saying.
Ethiopia/Somaliland:Drug Trade In Africa: How The Queen Of Khat Got So Rich By Philipp Hedemann (DieWELT/Worldcrunch)
For many Africans khat is a stimulant drug that also stills hunger pangs. But the world's biggest seller of khat doesn't fit the typical profile of a drug dealer. Indeed, throughout much of the continent it is legal.
For many Africans khat is a stimulant drug that also stills hunger pangs. But the world's biggest seller of khat doesn't fit the typical profile of a drug dealer.
In Somaliland, not a lot works. Somaliland is a republic in the north of Somalia, which, although it declared itself a sovereign state, is not internationally recognized as such. But one thing you can count on here: Suhura Ismail's trucks, driven at breakneck speed, arriving as regular as clockwork every night on the unpaved roads. The trucks are delivering khat, a drug that is mostly forbidden in Europe.
In Somaliland, on the other hand, the business is legal – and booming. Up to 80% of all men in the tiny country in the Horn of Africa are addicted to khat. Suhura Ismail says she herself has never tried chewing the bitter leaves. But it has made her rich, and in her homeland, Ethiopia, she is a highly respected entrepreneur.
"I was just voted Businesswoman of the Year," she says. "And then I got a bill for back taxes amounting to 48 million Birr (1.9 million euros.) But we'll figure something out. I have good connections with the Prime Minister."
The 49-year-old mother of ten is the biggest khat dealer in the world. And although she does have a flashy gold tooth, there is none of the usual baggage about her that usually attends international dealers: no body guards, no fake names, no fear of other drug cartels or the police -- though the tax man is a bit of a bother.
Then again, this Ethiopian woman would not describe herself as a drug dealer. The devout Muslim sees herself simply as an entrepreneur. Her family business sells between 30,000 and 40,000 kilos of khat each day.
In the 1990s, when coffee prices fell, many farmers in Ethiopia switched to growing khat. Since then, the drug has become one of the country's major export goods – and the government of the world's 12th poorest country wants its share. Ismail brings in foreign currency, or at least she does when she pays what she owes the state, which is 30% of her profits.
Ismail's parents sold khat at a small street stand in Jijiga, about an hour from Ethiopia's border with Somalia. As a girl, Suhura worked in her parents' business and learned the ropes. But it was not a particularly profitable business back then, and nobody was getting rich until Suhura turned 18 and married her Somali husband, Mohammed Ismail Tarabi. Together, they started exporting khat to Somalia. Most of the men in war-torn Somalia are addicted to khat too, but khat bushes – which can grow to as high as three meters -- don't do well in a country where there is so little rainfall.
The best khat grows in the highlands of eastern Ethiopia, around Awaday. In the early morning hours there, business is at its peak, with women selling the leaves, and men toting large bundles of them to pick-up trucks waiting with the motor running. Most of the vehicles belong to Ismail – she owns 40. As soon as the back of the truck is loaded up, the drivers step on the gas pedal. They are all chewing on thick wads of khat.
Chewing away one's life possessions Khat is a stimulant. At first, it has a very bitter taste, but after about a half hour – just around when traces of greenish foam start appearing in the corners of a chewer's mouth – the effects of natural amphetamines cathinone and cathine kick in.
Pangs of hunger subside, the khat chewer feels lightly euphoric, yet alert and focused, also talkative. However, to maintain this high, the user has to keep adding new leaves to the wad. Some men have literally chewed away all their family possessions sold to pay for their habit. In Ethiopia, a clump of khat costs between one and eight euros. Workers often earn less than one euro a day.
Hussein has that full cheek that characterizes a khat user. "I work hard, every day," he says, "which is why I need khat. It gives me strength." A khat farmer in Awaday, Hussein owns about a thousand khat bushes. "My father grows grain, fruit and vegetables. I only grow khat, because it brings in more money," he says, shoving a few more leaves into his mouth.
Chew too much of the stuff, though, and you become psychologically dependent on it; you can suffer from anxiety, depression, sleeplessness. Hussein is unusual, in that he will admit this; most people in Ethiopia will not. "Khat makes you lethargic. And you don't feel like having sex," he says. He has forbidden his four children to chew khat because "they don't have to work as hard as I do."
The whole of Somaliland (like Yemen on the other side of the Gulf of Aden) falls into a deep khat-induced lethargy during the afternoon hours. In neighboring Somalia, the drug, which is flown in daily, is almost as important as the ammunition that fuels the civil war. When ships are pirated by Somalis, owners make sure to keep the pirates well supplied with khat.
And more and more khat smugglers are being arrested in Europe. "There's hardly a passenger or freight plane that leaves Addis Ababa without some khat on board", says one insider. With often overloaded delivery trucks, khat couriers transport the leaves from Amsterdam, where the drug is legal, to East African immigrants living in Scandinavia.
Suhura Ismail wants nothing to do with this ugly side of the business. "Can I help it if some people can't handle khat? Or that it's illegal in Germany? You don't call your beer brewers drug dealers," says the woman who boasts that she's never touched a drop of alcohol in her life.
The girl who used to hawk khat from a roadside stand is now an entrepreneur with more than 1,000 employees, as well as her own airline, Suhura Airways. "In the world khat trade, Suhura is uncontestably numero uno," says Ephrem Tesema, who wrote a thesis at Basel University on the production, distribution and use of khat. "And in Ethiopia she is thought to control over 50% of the market."
Ultimately, Ismail's great breakthrough was in removing the stigma associated with the drug. "She did a lot of PR, so in Ethiopia now the leaves are just another commercial product," says Tesema.
Suhura Ismail says she would like to expand into Europe, and is hoping that the continent's biggest market, Germany, will legalize the drug. It's a country she's familiar with. When her husband started having trouble with his teeth she flew with him to Frankfurt for dental work. Now, back home, his teeth are again in good shape, and he can return to chewing his daily consumption of the green leaves.
Read the
original article in German
Syrian troops fight defectors near Damascus — residents (TheArabNews/Reuters)
Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad fought gun battles overnight near a northeast Damascus suburb with army defectors who had refused to shoot at a pro-democracy protest, residents said on Sunday. Six months into a popular uprising, Assad is under pressure from street protests, galvanized by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and from Arab foreign ministers who told Syria early on Sunday to work to end bloodshed "before it is too late."
The Arab League decided to send its Secretary-General to Damascus to push for reforms. Turkey's president said he had lost confidence in Syria.
Dozens of soldiers defected and fled into Al-Ghouta, an area of orchards and farmland, after pro-Assad forces fired at a large crowd of demonstrators near the Damascus suburb of Harasta to prevent them from marching on the capital, residents said.
"The army has been firing heavy machine guns throughout the night at Al-Ghouta and they were being met with response from smaller rifles," a resident of Harasta told Reuters by phone.
It was the first reported defection around the capital, where Assad's core forces are based.
Official denialSyrian authorities have repeatedly denied any army defections have been taking place. They have expelled independent media since the uprising against Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, erupted in Mach.
Activists have been reporting increasing defections among the rank-and-file army, mostly drawn from Syria's Sunni majority but dominated by an Alawite officer core effectively under the command of Assad's brother Maher.
A statement published on the Internet by the Free Officers, a group that says it represents defectors, said "large defections" occurred in Harasta and security forces and shabbiha (militiamen) loyal to Assad were chasing the defectors.
The statement said that a colonel in Air Force Intelligence, who had been in charge of raids and arrests by the secret police, was hit by a bullet in his head in the nearby suburb of Saqba.
The escalation came after Syria's Interior Ministry warned Damascus residents on Saturday against demonstrating after some of the most intense protests in the capital since the start of the uprising against Assad.
The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, an activist group, said thousands of people marched at the funerals of three protesters who were killed when Assad's forces fired at demonstrators who tried to march from the northeastern suburbs to Damascus on Saturday.
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey, a former ally which has become increasingly critical of Syria, said the situation had reached a point where changes would be too little too late, Turkish state-run news agency Anatolian reported.
Gul told Anatolian in an interview: "We are really very sad. Incidents are said to be 'finished' and then another 17 people are dead. How many will it be today? Clearly we have reached a point where anything would be too little too late. We have lost our confidence."
Assad's closest ally, Shiite Iran, with which he has been strengthening ties to the disquiet of Syria's Sunni majority, said Damascus must listen to the "legitimate demands" of its people. But Tehran also said that any change in Syria's ruling system would be dangerous for the Middle East.
"Resort to reason"In Cairo, the Arab League said in a statement after an extraordinary meeting that it was concerned "over the dangerous developments on the Syrian arena that had caused thousands of casualties" and "stresses the importance of ending bloodshed and to resort to reason before it is too late."
It was the first official Arab League meeting on Syria since the start of the uprising, inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that sparked unrest across the Middle East and North Africa. The foreign ministers said Syria's stability was crucial for the Arab world and the whole region.
The United Nations says 2,200 people have been killed since Assad sent in tanks and troops to crush months of street demonstrations calling for an end to his family's 41-year rule.
Syrian authorities have blamed armed "terrorist groups" for the bloodshed and say 500 police and army have been killed.
The latest demonstrations in Damascus were partly sparked by an attack on Saturday by Assad's forces on a popular cleric, Osama Al-Rifai. He was treated with several stitches to his head after they stormed Al-Rifai mosque complex in the Kfar Sousa district of the capital, home to the secret police headquarters, to prevent a protest from coming out of the mosque.
"Some of the 'amn' (security) went on the roof and began firing from their AK-47s to scare the crowd. Around 10 people were wounded, with two hit by bullets in the neck and chest," a cleric who lives in the area told Reuters by phone.
Assad decreed on Sunday a new media law, the official state news agency said, maintaining previous bans on reports that "compromise national unity" or relating to the military or the security apparatus.
NATO Attack On Syria To Result In Quagmire: Iranian Foreign Minister
Syria would be a quagmire for NATO, Iran says (TeheranTimes)
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that NATO will get bogged down in a quagmire if it launches a military campaign against Syria.
Salehi made the remarks during an interview with IRNA published on Sunday in reference to the threats of military action against Damascus if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not step down.
"If, God forbid, such a thing happens, NATO will be drawn into a quagmire, which it will never be able to extricate itself from," Salehi stated.
"Syria is in the forefront of resistance in the Middle East, and NATO cannot threaten this country with attack," he added.
Salehi also said, "The threats being issued by the United States and the West will have no effect on the resolve of the Syrian people."
"Regional nations have certainly woken up, and the awareness of nations will prevent the West from doing anything through launching a military campaign," he stated.
Salehi also described the West's military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan as "ineffective", saying, "If the West continues this path, it will not reach a favorable result."
Tehran, Moscow should reach consensus on 'step-by-step' plan
Elsewhere in the interview, Salehi replied to a question about Russia's proposal for a "step-by-step" plan toward Iran's nuclear program, made on July 13, according to which Tehran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions.
Salehi said that Iranian experts are studying the details of the initiative, adding that the final plan should be drawn up in such a way that both Tehran and Moscow accept it.
"The Russians took a well-intentioned step forward, and we welcome this gesture of goodwill," the Iranian foreign minister stated.
Libyans will not allow U.S. to hijack their revolution
Commenting on the victory of the Libyan people over the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, Salehi said that the Libyan nation will not allow the United States to hijack their revolution.
Libya conflict: Zimbabwe expels envoy Taher Elmagrahi (BBC)
The Libyan embassy in Harare was stormed on 24 August
Zimbabwe has expelled Libya's ambassador who last week abandoned Col Muammar Gaddafi and backed the rebels.
Taher Elmagrahi joined protesters who stormed the embassy and raised the pre-Gaddafi flag.
Zimbabwe's foreign minister said it did not recognise the rebel National Transitional Council.
President Robert Mugabe is a close ally of Col Gaddafi, who bankrolled the African Union. Only a few African countries have recognised the NTC.
Last week South Africa blocked moves at the UN to give the NTC access to Libyan government funds.
Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, from Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, said Mr Elmagrahi and all his staff now had 72 hours to leave the country.
"Once you renounce the authority that gave you the letter of credence and then proceed to pledge allegiance to another authority... it means that act deprives you of your diplomatic standing," he said.
When he switched sides last week, Mr Elmagrahi said: "I am not Gaddafi's ambassador. I represent the Libyan people."
Correspondents say Mr Mugabe and his allies are wary of the revolutions which have toppled three long-serving North African leaders this year.
More than 40 activists were arrested in February after watching videos about the Egypt uprising.
Mr Mugabe has condemned Nato's intervention in Libya and says the conflict is really about oil.
NATO Continues To Bomb Tripoli
NATO warplane flies over Tripoli (AFP)
A half dozen explosions were heard in the distance early on Monday in Tripoli just after a NATO warplane flew over the Libyan capital.
The blasts were heard just before 1am (0900 AEST) as rebels across the city celebrated their victory against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, firing automatic weapons into the air, an AFP correspondent reported.
After the explosions, the joyful shooting by the rebels came to an abrupt halt for several minutes, bringing an unusual calm to Tripoli, before resuming more cautiously.
Fighting has largely ended in the capital, but a few isolated groups of Gaddafi loyalists came out sporadically, mostly at night, according to the rebels.
The violence of the blasts indicated the presence of pro-Gaddafi forces near the capital, where the rebels on Tuesday took control of the compound from which Gaddafi had led the country for 42 years. ...
C'est l'OTAN qui est à la conquête de Tripoli By Manlio DINUCCI
Une photo publiée par le New York Times raconte, plus que beaucoup de paroles, ce qui est en train d'arriver en Libye : elle montre le corps carbonisé d'un soldat de l'armée gouvernementale, à côté des restes d'un véhicule brûlé, avec trois rebelles autour qui le regardent avec curiosité. Ce sont eux qui témoignent que le soldat a été tué par un raid de l'OTAN.
Lire l'article...
Western Troops In Libya "Since Day One" NATO admits UK and France may have troops in Libya By Dmitry Rogozin
(RIANovosti)NATO has revealed its member countries may have troops on the ground in Libya.
In an interview with the EUobserver website, an unnamed
NATO official admitted Britain and France may have deployed troops in Libya, but said that it would be "unfair to call them NATO forces."
In comments carried by state news channel Rossiya 24 on Sunday, the Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said there was "direct evidence" that British and French special forces were carrying out ground operations in Libya in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1973.
The resolution, passed in March, authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and use of "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said last week the alliance had no troops on the ground in Libya, and would not have any after the regime fell.
"The leading role in the post-Gaddafi period in supporting the Libyan people rests with the United Nations and the Contact Group. NATO will be in a supporting role... NATO will have no troops on the ground," Lungescu told reporters in Brussels.
British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told Sky News last week the rebels were getting intelligence and reconnaissance assistance from NATO.
Last week, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper claimed Britain's elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) were helping the rebels hunt down Col Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces have lost control of most of the country including the capital Tripoli.
Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown, though the transitional government says he is still in hiding in Tripoli.
A former member of the SAS told RIA Novosti last week that UK special forces had been in Libya "since day one" of the insurrection.
The rebels, who seized Tripoli a week ago, have offered a $1.3 million reward and amnesty from prosecution for anyone who kills or captures Gaddafi.
Meanwhile, the rebels are trying to advance toward Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte east of Tripoli, but are continuing to meet resistance from the deposed leader's loyalists.
NATO Coordinated. Commanded Assault On Libyan Capital: Russian AnalystNATO help obvious in Tripoli assault By Konstantin Garibov Voice of Russia
-[T]roops of the French Foreign Legion landed outside the Libyan capital 24 hours before the assault began. Those were professional mercenaries who survived Afghanistan and Iraq, with NATO commanders only needing Libyan rebels for a mob scene. The latter were instructed to fire in the air and gleefully wave flags of Gaddafi's predecessor in front of Qatar TV cameras.
Advisers and military instructors from France, Great Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates started patronizing the Libyan opposition right after the coalition launched its campaign in that country. They trained up to 200 militants who helped task force soldiers occupy Tripoli. Now they are hunting for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, his family members and associates.
It took the coalition three months to prepare this campaign titled Operation Mermaid Dawn, according to Britain's The Daily Telegraph. Writing that assault teams were trained in Benghazi by officers of the British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, the newspaper confirmed the UK task force’s leading role in the Tripoli attack. British media also declassified the involvement of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the operation. Dozens of bloggers, in their turn, said that troops of the French Foreign Legion landed outside the Libyan capital 24 hours before the assault began. Those were professional mercenaries who survived Afghanistan and Iraq, with NATO commanders only needing Libyan rebels for a mob scene. The latter were instructed to fire in the air and gleefully wave flags of Gaddafi's predecessor in front of Qatar TV cameras.
Rebels would never have been able to seize Tripoli without the assistance of the NATO command, as well as European and Arab mercenaries, believes associate editor of the Independent Military Review Viktor Litovkin.
"The militarily inexperienced opposition force was poorly equipped, scattered and weakly governed. In other words, it appeared as a wild guerilla mass having no idea about tactics and strategy. Without NATO instructors in their ranks and the support of NATO aircraft and navy, the rebels would definitely have failed. So, we witnessed NATO member states engaged in military activities on one of the sides in the civil war," Viktor Litovkin said.
Now it is known for certain that the hunt for Muammar Gaddafi is guided by servicemen of Great Britain's 22nd Special Air Service regiment (22 SAS). Deputy Chairman of the military political analysts association Alexander Peredzhiyev does not rule out that the coalition resorted to every means available.
"A considerable role in the Tripoli occupation and the triumph of rebel forces was played by their negotiations with Gaddafi followers. I assume we are dealing with the corruption of top-ranking officials loyal to the Colonel. The lingering NATO operation in Libya prompted the need of taking specific measures. Therefore, I believe, Western instructors and advisers provided with much authority and financial assets decided to buy victory using the rebels' hands," emphasized Alexander Peredzhiyev.
This view of the Russian military expert confirms, in particular, confessions of an opposition member who said rebels were suddenly joined by a commander of troops defending Tripoli during the assault. Mohammed Eshkal, who has been harbouring grievance against Gaddafi for some 20 years, is said to have come to terms with the National Transitional Council and yielded the city to the opposition.
The Western media also found information that Operation Mermaid Dawn was carried out not only in Tripoli but also in the Qatar-based special pavilions where the rebels' triumphant entry into the capital city was shot, cut and edited. These videos were broadcast by Arab TV channels at a high price to veil the West's direct involvement in the fall of Tripoli.
NATO Commanders Prepared Capture Of Tripoli: British Daily Capture of Tripoli prepared by NATO - Daily Telegraph (VOR)
NATO commanders prepared the capture of Tripoli code-named Operation Mermaid Dawn for three months, the Daily Telegraph reports.
According to the newspaper, the personnel of the British MI6 service and special operations troops, and also officers from France, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates trained the Libyan opposition troops in Benghazi. Hundreds of guns and pieces of ammunition were smuggled into Tripoli and hidden.
Apart from that, the commander of the troops defending the city turned to the opposition's side. He is said to have harboured resentment towards Gaddafi for 20 years, so he came to an agreement with the rebels and surrendered the city to them at the right moment, the newspaper points out.
NATO's dirty plan in Libya By Dr Samiullah Koreshi (PakistanObserver)
During Ramazan, I am not writing my columns and therefore this letter to the Editor on the situation in Libya after NATO's and Western powers surrogates have entered Tripoli is in lieu of a column. . The question arises what should be our attitudes towards these foreign puppets' victory. I had no doubt at any stage in the past what would be the end result of this conflict. The power equations of Ghaddafi supporters and the rebels/traitors, mask of NATO, was not too difficult to understand and the end result of the NATO/Western surrogates was but expected . That Ghaddafi stood the NATO's filthy war so long should be an indication that Ghaddafi had support of Libyan nationalists till the hilt and is sticking to the war because he has that even now small as it may be which is causinfg Ghaddafi's heroic stand.. Let no one glorify this Western proxy war. Sarkozy has bagged one of the richest oil fields of the world and that was what was western game plan in Libya.
It should be noted that despite NATO's dirty game, and the rebels/traitors implementing the dirty plan no one should at all give it any fancy name of liberation or any such high sounding description It is the obvious success of traitors promoting NATO's interests, selling Libya to foreign powers. Many traitor regimes have established themselves by serving enemies interest. This is another such case. We should not be among the first fools to extend recognition to the NATO surrogates. Another country falls to western imperialism.
Even as a diplomat I have stuck to my principles and I believe principles should be upheld in diplomacy also.. This NATO war for foreign oil and resources must be viewed as what it is. All the usual false and sanctimonious statements that will come from Obama, Sarkozy Ban Ki Moon not withstanding. All high sounding concern for humanity and what not would be another bla, bla, bla.
Former Nigerian President Condemns NATO's Invasion Of Libya Libya: Obasanjo Slams Nato Intervention in Libya By Mohamed Massaquoi (ConcordTimes)
Freetown: Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has strongly condemned the invasion of NATO forces in Libya, noting that the attack on "the brother, leader and former chairman of the African Union, Muammar Gaddafi" was wrong and uncalled for.
Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo was addressing newsmen at State House in Freetown last Friday during a snap visit to President Ernest Bai Koroma in acknowledgement of his Golden Jubilee Award presented to him during the country's 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations on April 27, 2011...
Asked what he made of the current political predicament facing the people of Libya, Mr. Obasanjo said: "It is obligatory for leaders to respect their people and create an enabling atmosphere for good governance, but the NATO intervention in the conflict in Libya is wrong because it will take a long time to address the damages caused."
Libyan Bombing Illegal Says Concerned Group By Livhuwani Mammburu (BusinessDay)
More than 200 African intellectuals say Nato's bombing of Libya is part of a re-colonisation of the continent A group of concerned African leaders have issued a statement warning about Africa being re-colonised as Nato continues its support of the Libyan rebels.
Speaking to media in Johannesburg today, leaders released a letter lamenting "misuse of the United Nations Security Council to engage in militarised diplomacy to effect regime change in Libya" and the "marginalisation of the African Union".
University of Johannesburg head of the politics department Professor Chris Landsberg spoke for the group saying Nato has violated international law.
"Nato has empowered itself openly to pursue the objective of regime change and therefore the use of force and all other means to overthrow the government of Libya, which objectives are completely at variance with the decisions of the UN Security Council," Landsberg said.
The letter was signed by more than 200 prominent Africans, including former African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki , Prof Shadrack Gutto of the University of SA, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils, Prof Chris Landsberg the head of the Department of Politics at the University of Johannesburg, Prof Mahmood Mamdani from the University of Columbia, former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad , author and poet Dr Wally Serote and many other influential Africans.
Serote says the African Union (AU) Road Map remains the only way to peace for the people of Libya.
"The AU stand for peace, democracy and freedom of all people. This is the role that the AU still wants to play whether you talk about the Ivory Coast, whether you talk about Sudan, whether you want to talk about Libya or whichever of the African country on the continent, the AU stand for that. It has a plan to put in place," Serote said.
Its not clear if the AU leadership approached Libyan rebels or the government for their points of view before making the statement.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule has been teetering on the brink of collapse after months of Nato airstrikes causing most of his forces to flee as rebel forces took control of the capital and the dramatic rebel takeover of his Bab al-Azizya compound yesterday.
Gaddafi himself has remained elusive. He was last seen two months ago.
Libyan rebel fighters celebrated at Green Square, renamed Martyrs Square by rebels, in Tripoli yesterday.
Libye ? Vous vous êtes encore fait avoir ? Oui, encore ! par Michel COLLON
Les « armes de destruction massive », ça n'a pas suffi ? Le martyre de l'Irak, frappé d'abord par les médiamensonges et ensuite par les bombes, on n'en a pas tiré les leçons ? Non, on n'en a pas tiré les leçons. On sait que les Etats-Unis ont menti sur le Vietnam, l'Irak, la Yougoslavie, l'Afghanistan et Gaza, mais on croit que cette fois-ci, sur la Libye, ils disent la vérité pour une fois. Etrange.
Lire l'article...Report: CIA Recruited 1,500 In Afghanistan To Fight In Libya CIA recruits 1,500 from Mazar-e-Sharif to fight in Libya By Azhar Masood (TheNation)
The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States recruited over 1,500 men from Mazar-e-Sharif for fighting against the Qaddafi forces in Libya.
Sources told The Nation: "Most of the men have been recruited from Afghanistan. They are Uzbeks, Persians and Hazaras. According to the footage, these men attired in the Uzbek-style of shalwar and Hazara-Uzbek Kurta were found fighting in Libyan cities."
When an Al-Jazeera reporter pointed it out he was disallowed by the "rebels' to capture images", sources in Quetta said: "Some Uzbeks and Hazaras from Afghanistan were arrested in Balochistan for illegally traveling into Pakistan en route to Libya through Iran. Aljazeera's report gave credence to this story. More than 60 Afghans, mainly children and teenagers, have been found dead after suffocating inside a shipping container in southwestern Pakistan in an apparent human smuggling attempt."
More than 100 illegal immigrants were discovered 20km from the border town of Quetta last week inside the container, which had been locked from the outside.
Aljazeera having a dubious record, gave a human touch to this story as most of the men who intruded inside Pakistan from Afghanistan were recruits for the Libyan rebels' force.
The sources said: "The CIA funded Libyan rebels with cash and weapons." In a report the New York Mayor's TV Channel Bloomberg said, “Leaders of the Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council flew to Istanbul seeking legitimacy and money. They will leave with the official recognition of the US and 31 other nations. As for the cash, they will have to wait."
The decision to treat the council as the "legitimate governing authority" in Libya is a key step to freeing up some of the government's frozen assets for rebels seeking the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi. Still, obstacles such as existing United Nations sanctions won't disappear overnight.
"We still have to work through various legal issues, but we expect this recognition will allow the TNC to access various forms of funding," said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
At stake are about $34 billion in frozen Libyan government assets that are held by the US institutions and as much as $130 billion more held around the world. Speaking via phone from Istanbul, Transitional National Council spokesman Mahmoud Shammam put the total in excess of $100 billion globally.
Qaddafi, in an audio message broadcast to supporters in the town of Zlitan, said the Libyan people “will never give up†in the fight to prevent him being ousted, the Associated Press reported. “The Libyan people will persevere,†he said.
In the coming weeks, US officials will consult with the TNC and international partners on the most effective and appropriate method of making additional significant financial assistance available, according to a Treasury official who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
Shammam said the TNC needs $3 billion to cover the budget for six months. The council is seeking loans secured by the Qaddafi regime's assets abroad as a means of funding, he said.
Recognition may lawfully allow nations to buy state-owned oil from the TNC, which controls the oil-rich eastern part of the country. Italy's Eni SpA and France's Total SA are the top oil companies operating in Libya, a former Italian colony.
How much money the Benghazi-based government can get, and when, may be more tied to politics than the law.
"The legal issues are in the eye of the beholder," said Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. "If Obama and Clinton want to go slow in paying out the money, their lawyers can invent plenty of legal issues to justify the chosen pace."
The US envisions a "short timeframe" for releasing some of the Libyan government assets frozen by the US, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
President Barack Obama signed an order on February 25 freezing any US assets of Muammar Qaddafi, his family and members of his regime in Libya. As a practical matter, most of the frozen $34 billion is tied up in complicated property interests, including ownership interests in non-publicly traded companies or real estate, according to the Treasury official.
The mechanics of how the US will unfreeze assets still has to be worked out. The United Nations sanctions against Libya remain in place, a hindrance to efforts to get money to the rebels.
The UK and France, which led the campaign to unseat Qaddafi, yesterday didn't commit any financial contributions.
Recognition of the council "will allow some countries to unfreeze some money," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said. Libyan frozen assets in France total $250 million, he said.
Other nations have already found the means to act.
Italy will open a credit line to rebels using frozen assets as collateral, and will provide them with 100 million euros ($141 million), Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said yesterday. Another 300 million euros will be released in two weeks and in total, Italy will release 400 million Euro, he said, describing the money as loans.
The council is expecting $100 million from Turkey within three days, Shammam said.
The main criterion for international law for the recognition of a rebel group as the government of a state is its effective control over the territory. ...
The military campaign against Qaddafi will continue "indefinitely" until he steps down, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters yesterday in Istanbul.
Turning Libya Into A New Afghanistan: 'Libya Rebels to Divide in Victory Vacuum' (RT)
Libyan rebels are united by hatred towards the current leader. Once Colonel Gaddafi is out of the game, they will turn on each other and NATO, predicts Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of London-based pan-Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
As the civil war in Libya rages, many say the country could go the way of Egypt and end up with a disillusioned society impatient for reform, but others believe it could be much worse. Abdel Bari Atwan says there is a huge potential of Libya turning into a new Afghanistan. The NATO-led regime change in Libya might well turn the country into a failed state, following the example of Afghanistan. Once Gaddafi leaves power, one way or another – because it is simply impossible for him to fight the whole of the NATO – the National Transitional Council (NTC) will have huge divisions within its own rank and it is highly doubtful it will be able to keep Libya as a united state. Abdel Bari Atwan predicts that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi will stay in Libya and nobody knows either where he is or what will happen to him, though he and his sons still have political power in the country. The editor doubts the Gaddafi regime can survive, saying "the most he can try to negotiate is a safe exit for him and his family." "The problem of post-Gaddafi era could be actually more problematic than the problem before the removal of Gaddafi regime, because there is a huge split among the rebels themselves." "The majority of people who are fighting Gaddafi are Muslim extremists or people who believe they must create an Islamic state in Libya," Abdel Bari Atwan acknowledged, saying that legitimizing this group would be a great problem for NATO. Once NATO decides officially to start a ground operation in Libya it will turn the rebels and Muslim extremists that are now fighting Gaddafi against the troops that would invade Libya. People in Libya have never seen democracy and imposing will be a very long and complicated process. Democracy is a culture of practice. "You cannot parachute democracy to people in Libya, in Iraq or Afghanistan," the editor said. "Talks about democracy are very sweet and we know about that. Under the banner of democracy the West intervened in Afghanistan and Iraq – and look what happened," he said, recalling that it is the 10-year anniversary of the American invasion in Afghanistan this year. "NATO is not a charitable organization" so there must be some sort of oil deal between the Libyan rebels and the alliance which helped the insurgents to gain everything by bombing out military objects of Libya. "Libyan cake is lucrative and already shared" shared Abdel Bari Atwan and the NTC will pay the demanded price to aggressors: exploration contract and military bases. "[The] Libyan future government should pay and will pay a very heavy price – this is not a free service" acknowledged the editor, saying the NTC definitely has a secret oil agreement with the NATO countries. As for the UK Prime Minister David Cameron's statement that NATO is going to stay in Libya as long as needed, that is a pure imperialism and the Libyan people will not tolerate this and will fight the aggressors, insists Abdel Bari Atwan.
CANADA READY TO PARTAKE IN THE LOOTINGCanada Ready To Extend Libyan War Role To End Of Year, Beyond Should Canada extend its mission in Libya? (CBC)
Canada's contribution to the NATO-led air mission in Libya is scheduled to end Sept. 27, although Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is keeping the option of extending Canada's mission past that date.
"This is quickly coming to an end. It's not over yet. Canada will obviously be there in theatre to support the Libyan people," Baird told host Evan Solomon on CBC's Power & Politics.
"Canadian Forces, as long as our NATO allies are on this UN-sanctioned mission, are there...," he said.
Canada's contribution to the mission was extended once before. In June, the House voted 294-1 to extend the mission, with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May being the lone member of Parliament to vote against.
At the time of the vote, then NDP Leader Jack Layton said his party would only support one extension to the mission. ...
NATO continues to hit targets within Libya even after the deposition of Moammar Gadhafi. On Tuesday, NATO flew 38 strike sorties, hitting six tanks and more than a dozen armed vehicles, as well as radar installations and other facilities.
Disaster Capitalism Swoops Over Libya By Pepe Escobar (AsiaTimes)
Think of the new Libya as the latest spectacular chapter in the Disaster Capitalism series. Instead of weapons of mass destruction, we had R2P ("responsibility to protect"). Instead of neo-conservatives, we had humanitarian imperialists.
But the target is the same: regime change. And the project is the same: to completely dismantle and privatize a nation that was not integrated into turbo-capitalism; to open another (profitable) land of opportunity for turbocharged neo-liberalism. The whole thing is especially handy because it is smack in the middle of a nearly global recession.
It will take some time; Libyan oil won't totally return to the market within 18 months. But there's the reconstruction of everything the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombed (well, not much of what the Pentagon bombed in 2003 was reconstructed in Iraq ...)
Anyway - from oil to rebuilding - in thesis juicy business opportunities loom. France's neo-Napoleonic Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's David of Arabia Cameron believe they will be especially well positioned to profit from NATO's victory. Yet there's no guarantee the new Libyan bonanza will be enough to lift both former colonial powers (neo-colonials?) out of recession.
President Sarkozy in particular will milk the business opportunities for French companies for all they're worth - part of his ambitious agenda of "strategic redeployment" of France in the Arab world. A compliant French media are gloating that this was "his" war - spinning that he decided to arm the rebels on the ground with French weaponry, in close cooperation with Qatar, including a key rebel commando unit that went by sea from Misrata to Tripoli last Saturday, at the start of "Operation Siren".
Well, he certainly saw the opening when Muammar Gaddafi's chief of protocol defected to Paris in October 2010. That's when the whole regime change drama started to be incubated. As matters escalate in Libya as rebels comes the closest yet to bringing down the regime of Colonel Gaddafi, what fate does that nation — and the rest of the world — face in the days to come? Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar says that what the US and NATO perceive as a collective victory in the making will just be the next step in expanding their agenda into Libya. He says that "the master plan is to isolate," and while the United State might call it humanitarian interventionism, he reminds us that that's what the American ruling elites "rebranded" Bush's agenda in the Middle East during his administrations.
"People have such short memory," says Escobar. "This reminds me of . . . the coalition provisional authority in Iraq in 2003. This is the same thing."
"We're going to have western boots on the ground and we're going to open up Libya for hardcore, no holds barred, terrible capitalism," adds Escobar."This is completely crazy."
According to Escobar, the next step is to get American hands on Libyan oil, and, in his words, "if this is the way that US and NATO goes, we're going to have Iraq 2.0."
And with Americans in control in place of Gaddafi, Escobar next suggests that Syria will be only next in the stepping stone for American domination.
In the meantime, however, most of America will be in the dark as the mainstream media fails to report on the actual events overseas. Escobar says that forces began "killing everyone in sight and hitting everything in sight" over the weekends, but that the journalists with the mainstream media are held up in hotel rooms safe from harm.
According to Escobar, all the mainstream media is doing is perpetuating the "cover story" that they've created for Americans to eat up. From there, he says, they'll eat whatever they're fed.Bombs for oil
As previously noted (see Welcome to Libya's 'democracy', Asia Times Online, August 24) the vultures are already circling Tripoli to grab (and monopolize) the spoils. And yes - most of the action has to do with oil deals, as in this stark assertion by Abdeljalil Mayouf, information manager at the "rebel" Arabian Gulf Oil Company; "We don't have a problem with Western countries like the Italians, French and UK companies. But we may have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil."
These three happen to be crucial members of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which are actually growing while the Atlanticist, NATO-bombing economies are either stuck in stagnation or recession. The top four BRICs also happen to have abstained from approving UN Security Council resolution 1973, the no-fly zone scam that metamorphosed into NATO bringing regime change from above. They saw right through it from the beginning.
To make matters worse (for them), only three days before the Pentagon's Africom launched its first 150-plus Tomahawks over Libya, Colonel Gaddafi gave an interview to German TV stressing that if the country were attacked, all energy contracts would be transferred to Russian, Indian and Chinese companies.
So the winners in the oil bonanza are already designated: NATO members plus Arab monarchies. Among the companies involved, British Petroleum (BP), France's Total and the Qatar national oil company. For Qatar - which dispatched jet fighters and recruiters to the front lines, trained "rebels" in exhaustive combat techniques, and is already managing oil sales in eastern Libya - the war will reveal itself to be a very wise investment decision.
Prior to the months-long crisis that is in its end game now with the rebels in the capital, Tripoli, Libya was producing 1.6 million barrels per day. Once resumed, this could reap Tripoli's new rulers some US$50 billion annually. Most estimates place oil reserves at 46.4 billion barrels.
The "rebels" of new Libya better not mess with China. Five months ago, China's official policy was already to call for a ceasefire; if that had happened, Gaddafi would still control more than half of Libya. Yet Beijing - never a fan of violent regime change - for the moment is exercising extreme restraint.
Wen Zhongliang, the deputy head of the Ministry of Trade, willfully observed, "Libya will continue to protect the interests and rights of Chinese investors and we hope to continue investment and economic cooperation." Official statements are piling up emphasizing "mutual economic cooperation".
Last week, Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice president of the dodgy Transitional National Council (TNC), told Xinhua that all deals and contracts agreed with the Gaddafi regime would be honored - but Beijing is taking no chances.
Libya supplied no more than 3% of China's oil imports in 2010. Angola is a much more crucial supplier. But China is still Libya's top oil customer in Asia. Moreover, China could be very helpful in the infrastructure rebuilding front, or in the technology export - no less than 75 Chinese companies with 36,000 employees were already on the ground before the outbreak of the tribal/civil war, swiftly evacuated in less than three days.
The Russians - from Gazprom to Tafnet - had billions of dollars invested in Libyan projects; Brazilian oil giant Petrobras and the construction company Odebrecht also had intrests there. It's still unclear what will happen to them. The director general of the Russia-Libya Business Council, Aram Shegunts, is extremely worried: "Our companies will lose everything because NATO will prevent them from doing business in Libya."
Italy seems to have passed the "rebel" version of "you're either with us or without us". Energy giant ENI apparently won't be affected, as Premier Silvio "Bunga Bunga" Berlusconi pragmatically dumped his previous very close pal Gaddafi at the start of the Africom/NATO bombing spree.
ENI's directors are confident Libya's oil and gas flows to southern Italy will resume before winter. And the Libyan ambassador in Italy, Hafed Gaddur, reassured Rome that all Gaddafi-era contracts will be honored. Just in case, Berlusconi will meet the TNC's prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, this Thursday in Milan.
Bin Laden to the rescue
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu - of the famed "zero problems with our neighbors" policy - has also been gushing praise on the former "rebels" turned powers-that-be. Eyeing the post-Gaddafi business bonanza as well, Ankara - as NATO's eastern flank - ended up helping to impose a naval blockade on the Gaddafi regime, carefully cultivated the TNC, and in July formally recognized it as the government of Libya. Business "rewards" loom.
Then there's the crucial plot; how the House of Saud is going to profit from having been instrumental in setting up a friendly regime in Libya, possibly peppered with Salafi notables; one of the key reasons for the Saudi onslaught - which included a fabricated vote at the Arab League - was the extreme bad blood between Gaddafi and King Abdullah since the run-up towards the war on Iraq in 2002.
It's never enough to stress the cosmic hypocrisy of an ultra-regressive absolute monarchy/medieval theocracy - which invaded Bahrain and repressed its native Shi'ites - saluting what could be construed as a pro-democracy movement in Northern Africa.
Anyway, it's time to party. Expect the Saudi Bin Laden Group to reconstruct like mad all over Libya - eventually turning the (looted) Bab al-Aziziyah into a monster, luxury Mall of Tripolitania.
(*) Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached atpepeasia@yahoo.com. Drug Transit In North Africa Follows Iraqi, Kosovo, Afghan Model - RussiaRussian chief drug enforcer affirms increased drug traffic through Africa (Interfax)
Political destabilization in Africa has increased drug transit through that continent, Federal Drug Control Service head Viktor Ivanov told a Monday press conference at the Interfax main office.
"Events of the recent years have intensified the deliveries of Afghan heroin via African countries," he said.
The drugs are smuggled through Iraq, where many criminal groups intensified their business amid the hostilities. Now they are smuggling drugs to East Africa through Somalia and to North Africa, where constant armed clashes cover up drug operations, he said.
"We are witnessing a significant increase of heroin transit from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea," he said.
Russia is interested in stabilization on the African continent, in particular in Libya, Ivanov said.
"Russia is interested in the soonest end of the hostilities and stabilization. In that case Europe will have a good shield to protect itself from drugs transited through Africa," he said.
Drug trafficking may have a negative effect on the political situation, Ivanov said.
"We can see that drug transit has entailed riots in Cote d'Ivoire and coups in Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Huge drug profits are larger than national budgets. Criminal groups are growing in number, merge and develop into structures, which have their own armies, armaments and budgets much larger than budgets of the countries of their operation," he said.
US Outsourced Regime Change NATO, Sleeper Cells Drove Rebels' Tripoli Push By Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rami Al-Shaheibi (AP)
They called it Operation Mermaid Dawn, a stealth plan coordinated by sleeper cells, Libyan rebels, and NATO to snatch the capital from the Moammar Gadhafi's regime's hands.
It began three months ago when groups of young men left their homes in Tripoli and traveled to train in Benghazi with ex-military soldiers.
After training in Benghazi, the men would return to Tripoli either through the sea disguised as fishermen or through the western mountains.
"They went back to Tripoli and waited; they became sleeper cells," said military spokesman Fadlallah Haroun, who helped organize the operation.
He said that many of the trained fighters also stayed in the cities west of Tripoli, including Zintan and Zawiya, and waited for the day to come to push into the capital.
Operation Mermaid Dawn began on the night of August 21 and took the world by surprise as the rebels sped into the capital and celebrated in Green Square with almost no resistance from pro-Gadhafi forces.
Haroun said about 150 men rose up from inside Tripoli, blocking streets, engaging in armed street fights with Gadhafi brigades, and taking over their streets with check points.
But why did the armed Gadhafi troops melt away when the rebels drove through?
Fathi Baja, head of the rebel leadership's political committee, said it was all thanks to a deal cut with the head of the batallion in charge of protecting Tripoli's gates, the Mohammed Megrayef Brigade.
His name was Mohammed Eshkal and he was very close to Gadhafi and his family. Baja said Gadhafi had ordered the death of his cousin twenty years ago.
"Eshkal carried a grudge in his heart against Gadhafi for 20 years, and he made a deal with the NTC — when the zero hour approached he would hand the city over to the rebels," said Haroun.
"Eshkal didn't care much about the revolution," said Haroun. "He wanted to take a personal revenge from Gadhafi and when he saw a chance that he will fall, he just let it happen."
But Haroun said he still didn't trust Eshkal or the men who defected so late in the game.
Haroun said that he didn't trust any of the defectors who left Gadhafi's side so close to August 20.
"They lived knew his days were numbered so they defected, but in their hearts they will always fear Gadhafi and give him a regard," he said.
Haroun said NATO was in contact with the rebel leadership in Benghazi and were aware of the date of Operation Mermaid Dawn.
"Honestly, NATO played a very big role in liberating Tripoli — they bombed all the main locations that we couldn't handle with our light weapons," said Harouin.
Analysts have noted that as time went on, NATO airstrikes became more and more precise and there was less and less collateral damage, indicating the presence of air controllers on the battlefields.
Targeted bombings launched methodical strikes on Gadhafi's crucial communications facilities and weapons caches. An increasing number of American hunter-killer drones provided round-the-clock surveillance as the rebels advanced.
Diplomats acknowledge that covert teams from France, Britain and some East European states provided critical assistance.
The assistance included logisticians, security advisers and forward air controllers for the rebel army, as well as intelligence operatives, damage assessment analysts and other experts, according to a diplomat based at NATO's headquarters in Brussels. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Foreign military advisers on the ground provided key real-time intelligence to the rebels, enabling them to maximize their limited firepower against the enemy. One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the Qatari military led the way, augmented later by French, Italian and British military advisers. This effort had a multiple purpose, not only assisting the rebels but monitoring their ranks and watching for any al-Qaida elements trying to infiltrate or influence the rebellion.
Bolstering the intelligence on the ground was an escalating surveillance and targeting campaign in the skies above. Armed U.S. Predator drones helped to clear a path for the rebels to advance.
Baja said as the time for Operation Mermaid Dawn came close to execution, NATO began to intensify their bombing campaign at Bab al-Azizya and near jails where weapons were stored and political prisoners were held.
And then the people rose up.
U.SA. Is Outsourcing Regime ChangeNATO Partnership in Libya Serves as Model, Panetta Says By American Forces Press Service
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today called U.S. support for the NATO mission that's helping opposition forces make progress against Moammar Gadhafi's regime Libya an example of the international cooperation that will be critical in the future.
"It is a good indication of the kind of partnership and alliances that we need to have for the future if we are going to deal with the threats that we confront in today's world," Panetta told students during addresses at both the Naval Postgraduate School and Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.
Panetta said he is particularly proud of the mission the United States performed as a NATO partner in Libya, including the establishment of a no-fly zone to help protect the Libyan people.
"It is a credit to the great job of nations working together on a common mission – something that is absolutely essential if we are to provide security in the future," he said.
This support and assistance, he said, has been "part of the key in being able to help the opposition forces there ultimately be able to succeed."
Panetta expressed hope that the opposition will succeed and NATO will have completed its mission. "It's clear that the opposition has made significant gains. It's clear that the regime forces are collapsing and that Gadhafi's days are numbered," he said.
The United States continues to monitor events, but the situation remains dangerous and "very fluid," he said.
"In many ways, the future of Libya is in the hands of the Libyans," Panetta told the assemblies, echoing President Barack Obama. "We hope that they will decide that it is important to establish stability and important political reforms for the future after 40 years of Gadhafi."
The Arab Spring, the name given to recent revolutions for democracy throughout the Middle East, is bringing change and in many cases, turmoil to the region, Panetta said. But it also offers "a chance to make that part of the world a better region, one that enjoys some of the values and some of the reforms and some of the political opportunities that we have in this country," he said. Security threat called AFRICOM By Kamati kaTate (NewEra)
You might not know or heard about AFRICOM. If you saw the name once, you might have dismissed it thinking AFRICOM is a new company to sell cement like Afrisam. Some might conclude that since it has a 'com' at the end, maybe it is something online.
These are wrong conclusions. At the end of this column, you will know what AFRICOM is, its activities and why it is a security threat.
AFRICOM, standing for Africa Command, was established by blood covered former US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. You will notice that Robert Gates, has continued with his duties under Obama who misled many of you except me. The idiots believed AFRICOM's raison d'être terrorism in Africa. I would not expect you to know AFRICOM's mission statement since many of you don't read.
Allow yourself an Education as I make it known that the AFRICOM mission statement is "United States Africa Command, in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners, conducts sustained security engagements through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of U.S. foreign policy." Meaning AFRICOM is a fundamental tool of US Foreign Policy.
We will return to it later. It's ok that you didn't know, even your leaders, many without education, didn't know. AFRICOM is headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart in Germany and is led by General William Ward.
Why and how is AFRICOM a security threat to Africa? Firstly, its mission suggests so. In a 2009 journal article on Contemporary Security Policy, Laurie Nathan exposes four key fundamental principalities as regards to AFRICOM. The author correctly argues that AFRICOM, in undermining state sovereignty, will "alter the regional balance of power, and be divisive and destabilizing…It would undermine the unity and collective decision-making." AFRICOM was to be located in Africa, General Ward probably plans to locate it in countries such as Botswana and Namibia with pro-western leadership.
Locating AFRICOM in Africa is a military opportunity for America to overthrow African governments and to attack countries seen as anti-American. Since African and American interest never gels, it would mean that AFRICOM would pursue American interest, on an African soil, at the expense of African interest. Those with sharp medulla oblongata know that AFRICOM is undermining the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Council which deals with Peace and Security on the continent. We might as well sell the AU to Americans.
I had mentioned American foreign policy. In this domain, Nathan (2009) sees American foreign policy in light of its "unsympathetic attitude to the liberation movements, its unwavering support for Israel despite the illegal occupation of Palestine, its exceptionalism in relation to the International Criminal Court, and its long history of unilateralism, aggression, and disdain for international law …pursues its own interests at the expense of others, and is willing to deploy force offensively to advance those interests." So if AFRICOM is to achieve its mission statement we discussed earlier, Africa must support and embrace the above as discussed by Nathan.
As your teacher, I need to share recent information made available to us by Wikileaks.
The communication cable dated on Monday, 11 January 2010, at 17h30 UTC, indicates a meeting of AFRICOM Commander's discussion with French officials on Aqim and other African Security Threats. The meeting, held in Paris, was attended by President Sarkozy's Diplomatic Advisor Jean-David Levitte, Sarkozy's Military Advisor, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, and others briefed U.S. AFRICOM Commander General William E. Ward. Wikileaks has also revealed to us how AFRICOM planned the assassination of legendary RG Mugabe and the fall of his government through the so-called Operation Shumba (damn bastard, may God bless Zimbabwe).
AFRICOM Commander General Ward visited Namibia in April 2010.
Reading his report was so disgusting in many ways. He referred to my country as "Southwest Africa." Cleary Americans still use lenses of Cold War geopolitics.
General Ward met with Health Minister Dr. Kamwi, they apparently discussed how AFRICOM "could help the Namibian military and U.S. country team efforts to assist in health related issues." At a meeting with the Ministry of Safety and Security, they discussed supporting the then "upcoming Namibian police visit to Ramstein Air Base in Southwestern Germany."
The American was dignified with a fifteen minute appearance on Good Morning Namibia, with Kazembire Zemburuka, in order to brainwash, hypnotize and shower us with American propaganda. General Ward met Education Minister Abraham Iyambo to discuss the school AFRICOM will build in northern Namibia. Lastly and shockingly, he met with the then Defence Deputy Minister Lempy Lucas. He said "it was very gratifying to hear Ms. Lucas praise our bilateral relationship and her wish to see Africa Command play a greater role in military-to-military relations in the future."(what?). A close friend said General Ward met significant others not mentioned.
These cosmetic initiatives are not genuine, they devil's initiative are never genuine. These are attempts to win the hearts and the minds of the Namibian people.
What is in for them anyway? Also monitor and analyze the work of MCA very closely.
There is no good devil, the good devil is the dead one.
This is enough for today, add me on Facebook for a more robust engagement of these issues.
'Shaamonathana omuti nomuti' – We shall meet again
(*)
Kamati kaTate is a Community Mobilizer whose area of interest is observing Politics as both an art of the possible and as a medium of distribution of resources as to who gets what, when, where and how. kamatikatate[AT]gmail.com N.B.: Germany intellectually unprepared? Only the author of the following article, a school drop-out and renowned political turncoat who for lack of better ideas had become an americanophile, appears intellectually unprepared for the upcoming challenges! He was Germany's first "war-minister" after WWII, sending German troops to foreign lands - against the will of the German people. The world needs a strong, united Europe By Joschka Fischer (CNN/ProjectSyndicate)
Slowly, word is getting round – even in Germany – that the financial crisis could destroy the European unification project in its entirety, because it demonstrates, quite relentlessly, the weaknesses of the eurozone and its construction. Those weaknesses are less financial or economic than political.
The Maastricht Treaty established a monetary union, but the political union that is an indispensable precondition for the common currency's success remained a mere promise. The euro, and the countries that adopted it, are now paying the price. The eurozone now rests on the shaky basis of a confederation of states that are committed both to a monetary union and to retaining their fiscal sovereignty. At a time of crisis, that cannot work.
At the beginning of the crisis, in 2007-2008, the eurozone's fundamental flaws could have been corrected had Germany been willing to support a joint European crisis response. But German officials preferred to maintain national primacy – and thus a confederational approach to Europe.
Throughout history, confederations have never really worked, because the question of sovereignty (and thus of power and legitimacy) remains unresolved. The United States is a case in point. After winning independence, the American colonies united loosely under the Articles of Confederation. But that arrangement failed financially and economically, and the US soon moved towards a full federation.
Today, Europe – or, more precisely, the eurozone – faces an almost identical situation, except that the historical conditions for further integration are much more complex and difficult than they were in post-independence America.
Europe has three choices. Muddling through as before would only escalate and prolong the crisis. Ending the monetary union would end the European project itself, and wreak unmanageable havoc. Finally, Europe could move forward to real economic and political integration – a step that today's leaders lack the confidence to take, because they don't believe that they have the necessary public support at home.
Much, therefore, speaks for starting with a combination of the first and second options. Then, once the European project is halfway over the cliff, the federalist moment might arrive. But the operative word is "might": a headlong plunge into the abyss might prove equally likely.
Europe's do-nothing approach to the crisis has already produced visibly adverse consequences. Elected officials' passivity has stoked popular mistrust, which now threatens the European project. Indeed, the crisis is beginning to erode the very foundations – the Franco-German and transatlantic partnerships – of a post-war European order that has ensured a period of peace and prosperity without precedent in the history of the continent.
Financial-market pressure has now reached France, and poses a danger that is far from over. If France is brought to its knees and Germany doesn't stand by its partner unwaveringly and with everything that it has to offer, the European catastrophe will be complete. And that could happen sooner rather than later: France cannot and will not give up on the Mediterranean region, so the exit fantasies entertained by rich northern Europeans (Germans, above all) endanger the Franco-German pillar of European peace.
Across the Atlantic, America's fiscal crisis and weak economic growth will force it to reduce its global military commitments. Moreover, the US will orient itself increasingly towards the Pacific rather than the Atlantic. For Europeans, with our turbulent eastern and southern neighborhoods, this presents an additional security challenge for which we are materially and intellectually unprepared. Even today, Europe's military weakness is working to undermine the transatlantic relationship.
An additional threat to the transatlantic alliance arises from the emerging new world order. The coming years, indeed decades, will be characterized by an increasingly aggressive US-Chinese dualism as China becomes stronger and America's weakness persists. While this rivalry will have a military component, as evidenced by China's enormous military buildup, it will manifest itself primarily in terms of economic, political, and normative spheres of influence. East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific will play the central role here.
But China will try to draw Europe into this new global game. Indeed, it has already begun to do so. The recent visits by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Europe's crisis countries, to which he offered generous loans and assistance, made this strikingly clear. And America's weakness, the growing dependence of European (especially German) exports on the Chinese market, and the enticements of the Far East more generally, will nurture a new and promising Eurasian perspective as Transatlanticism declines.
European illusions about Asia will no longer be directed at Russia, which, apart from its natural resources, will simply have nothing to offer. No, this time, the temptation will spring from China, which well understands Europe's significance in its emerging geopolitical contest with (and against) the US.
As with Germany vis-à-vis France, here, too, Europe must stand unwaveringly by its transatlantic partner to avoid putting itself in great jeopardy. The two foundations of Europe's seven decades of peace are cracking. Repairing them requires nothing less than pressing ahead, at long last, toward a strong, united Europe.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Joschka Fischer (alias: Joseph Martin Fischer)
Copyright: Project Syndicate/Institute for Human Sciences, 2011. Editor's Note: Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister and vice-chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was [unfortunately] a leader in the German Green Party for almost 20 years.
Sweden vs. Assange
Justice will prevail... Updates of the
July Appeal- The date of the delivery of the judgement has yet to be announced. The judgement will likely be delivered in October 2011.
- See July Appeal for a new summary of the proceedings and other updates.
Donate Julian Assange Defence Fund (JADF)
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How to donate:
"Julian Assange Defence Fund (JADF)" From the UK, cheques can be made out to 'JADF Ellingham Hall'. Please address the cheque to:
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SHRED YOUR VISA AND MASTERCARDS Swiss company DataCell as a previous and potential customer officially handed over the legal complaint related to four obviously illegal undertakings by namely Visa Europe Ltd. and MasterCard Europe Sprl., Teller A/S and Kortaþjónustan ("Korta") to the European Commission. The confidential file can be found here:
http://cryptome.org/0005/wl-v-visa-mc.pdf "There can be little doubt that market power that Visa Europe and MasterCard Europe wield on the European market is an overwhelming one, both on terms of market shares, economic power and the controlling reign they hold over their member firms and
licensees. With such power comes the special responsibility not to distort competition by their actions and conduct. The activities of
Visa and MC comprise all of Europe and as such they affect the pattern of competition, not only at the network level and on the relevant downstream markets but throughout all markets which depend on payment card services including that of our client.
An arbitrary decision taken by Visa and MC whereby a firm is excluded in a discriminatory manner from competing and operating
on an important IT and ICT market, which at the same time is capable of distorting the effective application of renewable energy resources within an territory of the EEA Agreement does, in the opinion of my client, justifies and even makes an intervention by the
EU-‐Commission necessary in this case." - Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, Attorney to the Supreme Court of Iceland.
Hope yet for African Queen gunboat on Lake Tanganyika By Stephen Evans (BBC) MV Liemba
- Built in 1913
- Scuttled in 1916 - raised again after it stayed several years at the bottom of Lake Tanganyika
- Put into service as a ferry in 1927
- An inspiration for a vessel in C S Forester's 1935 novel The African Queen, and the 1951 Hollywood film
- Proudly described by her present owners as "the oldest passenger ferry in the world"
Ships don't come with much more historical ballast than the MV Liemba. The steamer still shudders and belches its way across Lake Tanganyika every Wednesday and Friday, a century after it was built as a warship in Germany.
In its time it's been a pawn in the colonial scramble for Africa. It's been scuttled and then raised again from the deep. It may have been the model for the warship sunk by The African Queen, a steam-powered launch in the film of the same name, starring Katharine Hepburn as a prim spinster and Humphrey Bogart as the rough captain.
And now it's a
ferry on Africa's longest lake, invariably packed with hundreds of people plus their jumble of bundles and baskets as it churns the water between Kigoma in Tanzania across the lake to Mpulungu in Zambia.
But for how long? Such is the ramshackle, dented state of the vessel that the company which runs it has asked the German government to help with refurbishment. The basis of the appeal is that this is a piece of German history. The steamer that serves the citizens around Lake Tanganyika was once the Kaiser's gunboat.
Cat and Dog A spokesman for the Marine Services Company told the BBC: "We have requested that Germany help in its rehabilitation. This is because of financial constraints but we have not had a concrete commitment."
Some argue that it may be cheaper to build a new ship than refurbish the old one.
The Liemba started life as the Graf Goetzen in 1913 when she was built as a warship in Papenburg on the River Ems in northern Germany. It is said that the Kaiser himself ordered the construction to further his imperial ambitions.
The Graf Goetzen was then transported in parts, in 500 crates, from Hamburg to Dar es Salaam on the coast of East Africa - and from there over mountains to Lake Tanganyika where Germany, Britain and Belgium were all engaged in colonial jostling.
Britain did not take the presence of the vessel easily. As the Admiralty put it: "It is both the duty and the tradition of the Royal Navy to engage the enemy wherever there is water to float a ship."
So London decided to send two gunboats and by an equally difficult route.
The British ships were sent down to South Africa and then up the continent as far as they could be taken by rail, and after that by the sheer human power of 2,000 labourers who hauled and cut through the jungle, eventually getting them to the lake which became the site of imperial contest.
The two British boats, by the way, were initially to be called Cat and Dog but that was thought to be too flippant - the Admiralty in London at the time was not into flippancy. The names Mimi and Touto were chosen instead, the French terms used by children for cat and dog.
'Indispensable service' Colonial rivalry and conflict then ensued, and, in the face of a British attack, the Germans abandoned the port of Kigoma, scuttling their ship, the Graf Goetzen, to stop it getting into British hands.
The Goetzen then remained at the bottom of the lake for nearly 10 years until she was raised to the surface. Amazingly, the engines still functioned after minor repairs - possibly because the German engineers who had done the scuttling were the ones who had taken it out from Germany... and they took care to encase the engines in grease so that their baby could one day live and steam again.
It is not clear who raised it, perhaps the Belgians or perhaps the British - but whoever did it, the old German gunboat ended up in the hands of the British.
Clearly, a vessel of the Royal Navy could not be named after Count Gustav Adolf von Goetzen, who was a German explorer and governor of German East Africa. So the ship was renamed as the Liemba - which is how she has stayed ever since.
And so may she stay for much longer if she can be renovated. The request for financial help has fallen between the governments of Lower Saxony, in which the ship was built, and the federal government in Berlin.
The president of Germany has added his voice. The ship, said President Christian Wulff, had a "singular history" and performed an "indispensable service" to the people of East Africa. The government of Tanzania joined the clamour for salvation.
A study has been done by the German authorities but it is thought to have concluded that the costs might well be higher than actually building a new ship. But would a new ship be quite the same as an ancient steamer, dented and bulging with history?
[ECOTERRA Intl. comment: The Beancounters of Berlin should not have any say in it. President Wulff and President Kikwete have a golden opportunity to - rarely enough - demonstrate friendship between two peoples and save the historic vessel as museum - also to serve as educational centre against colonialism.] PLEASE FORWARD
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF DR. KELLY
AND HIS FINDINGS MUST BE INVESTIGATED AND COME TO LIGHTPlease donate NOW, as little or as much as you can to help the doctors who are challenging the Government's cover-up over the death of Dr. David Kelly.
If you wish to help justice, go to: www.inquest4drdk.co.uk Dr Kelly tried his hardest to prevent Tony Blair and the UK Government from invading Iraq on a lie, as he knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. The next thing, Dr. Kelly is found dead, under what many people feel are very suspicious circumstances, despite the Government's efforts to prove otherwise.
There are many "unexplained" issues and David Kelly's friends have complained that they were never asked to testify, although they could prove that he was incapable of killing himself in the manner in which the Government has claimed. It is also unusual that the Government has secretly classified all evidence for 70 years!
This brave and honourable man lost his life, trying to stop this country from the an invasion which we now know was totally unnecessary, wasting billions of pounds and cost the lives of many of our soldiers and hundreds of thousands innocent children, women and men.
Please donate NOW, to help these doctors challenge the Government's decision not hold an inquest. They would not be taking this step, if they did not believe that this is the only way for the truth about Dr Kelly's death to finally emerge and for the person's responsible to be held to account.
JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL, please go to: www.inquest4drdk.co.uk PLEASE FORWARD THIS AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
----------------
SOMALI WATERWORLD
THE SITUATION ON SOMALIA's 6th ESTATE:
- YOU ARE PERSISTENTLY BEING LIED TO WITH IMPUNITY
- TRENDS
- SOLUTIONS PENDING
- ECOTERRA STATEMENT and
- THE WISH-LISTS FOR THE NAVIES, THE UN AND BAN KI-MOON
READ ALL AND UNDERSTAND AT: http://beforeitsnews.com/story/135118
and NAVAL NAVEL INSPECTION I
and NAVAL NAVEL INSPECTION II
"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."
Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)
HOSTAGE CASES UNDER OBSERVATION: (© ecoterra/ecop-marine)
Genuine members of families of the abducted seafarers or true vessel owners can call +254-719-603-176 for further details or send an e-mail in any language to office[AT]ecoterra-international.org
FV NN IRAN : Seized March 02, 2009. The Iranian fishing vessel and her 29 crew was seized by Somali pirates. The vessel was missing and wanted. Navy soldiers on French warship FS NIVOSE and her helicopter fired warning shots at a dhow and then snipers from the Estonian Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) destroyed her skiffs, which were abandoned before the dhow and the hostages were commandeered back to the coast. The vessel and crew are still held hostage.
MV SOCOTRA 1 : Seized December 25. 2009. The vessel carrying a food cargo for a Yemeni businessman and bound for Socotra Archipelago was captured in the Gulf of Aden after it left Alshahir port in the eastern province of Hadramout. 6 crew members of Yemeni nationality were aboard. Latest information said the ship was commandeered onto the high seas between Oman and Pakistan, possibly in another piracy or smuggling mission. 2 of the original crew are reportedly on land in Puntland. VESSEL STILL MISSING and/or working as pirate ship, was confirmed by Yemeni authorities.
The vessel is wanted.
MSV HUD HUD seized March 23, 2010. The motorized, Pakistan-flagged and Pakistan-owned Dhow with 11 Pakistani crew was used to hijack MT ELENI P, a Greek merchant vessel which was released after the payment of a ransom.
Freed seafarers of the Greek merchant ship reported that after the successful boarding of MT ELENI P the pirates left the MSV HUDHUD and all embarked on MT ELENI P. It was therefore assumed that MSV HUD-HUD was set free on 12. May 2010.
It is, however, now reported by the Authorities, that the owners of the vessel still claim to not know the whereabouts of this vessel and its crew. MSV HUD HUD also flies sometimes the flag of the Comoros was established from the records of the Sharjah creek customs office in the UAE. The vessel is wanted.
MV ICEBERG I : Seized March 29, 2010. The UAE-owned, Panama-flagged Ro-Ro vessel MV ICEBERG 1 (IMO 7429102) with her originally 24 multinational crew members (original crew: 9 Yemenis, 6 Indians, 4 from Ghana, 2 Sudanese, 2 Pakistani and 1 Filipino) was sea-jacked just 10nm outside Aden Port, Gulf of Aden. The 3,960 dwt vessel was in the beginning of the hostage ordeal mostly held off Kulub at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Since negotiations by the vessel manager had not achieved any solution, the vessel was taken to the high seas again. Then the USS McFaul intercepted and identified the ship on 19th May 2010, despite the pirates having painted over her name and re-named the ship SEA EXPRESS, while the vessel was on a presumed piracy mission on the high-seas. Since about 50 pirates on the ship made any rescue operation impossible without endangering the 24 crew, the naval ship followed the commandeered vessel's movements for the next 36 hours, until it began to sail back towards the coast of Somalia. Already back then it had transpired that the shipping company Azal Shipping based in Dubai refused to pay any ransom and the ship is apparently not insured, though it carries quiet valuable cargo. For a long time it seemed that the British cargo owner was influencing the not forthcoming negotiations. The sailors soon had no more food, water or medicine from their stores on board. Chief Officer Kumar, Chief Engineer Mohamed and Second Engineer Francis also stated since months that they urgently need Diesel for the electricity generators. The crew requested in July and August again humanitarian intervention as before but could only receive some supplies through intervention by local elders and a humanitarian group, because the owner-manager neglects the crew. In September some negotiations for the release started again, but were not concluded or continued, because the captors consider the offer of the shipowner as unrealistic. According to the Chinese state-media newswire XINHUA, the acting director at the ministry of foreign affairs in Accra (Ghana) Mr. Lawrence Sotah said the ministry, in response to a petition by a relative of one of the hostages, had commenced investigations, but reportedly stated also that their location and reasons for the kidnapping remained unknown. "We do not have any information as to what the pirates are demanding, because the owners of the ship or the pirates themselves have not put out any information which will be helpful for us to know exactly what they want," he said. "Ghana's mission in Saudi Arabia has been contacted to assist, " Sotah said. He said the ministry was working with other international security organization to get to the bottom of what he termed the "alleged" kidnapping.
The vessel is owned by a company called ICEBERG INTERNATIONAL LTD, but registered only with "care of" the ISM-manager AZAL SHIPPING & CARGO (L.L.C) - Shipping Lines Agents - Dubai UAE, whose representative Mr. Yassir Amin - said to be a Yemeni - was stating to all sides that he is handling the case.
Though EU NAVFOR spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour had stated that the vessel was carrying just "general mechanical equipment" and was heading for the United Arab Emirates when it was attacked, it carries according to the owner-manager generators, transformers and empty fuel tanks. It could now be confirmed that besides other cargo it carries generators and transformers for British power rental company Aggreko International Power Projects and the cargo seems to be better insured than the vessel.
One of the sailors from Ghana was able to speak to a journalist back home and stated on 22. September: "They have given us a 48 hour deadline that if we don't come up with anything reasonable they will kill some of us and sink the vessel. I am appealing to the Ghanaian authority that they should do something to save our lives because our treatment here is inhuman". The vessel was then very close to the shore of Garacad. In the beginning of October the Somali pirates allegedly threatened to kill the sailors and to sell the body organs of the 22 hostages, if their ransom demands are not met in the near future. Media reports said the information was received via a text message from one of the hostages, but investigations showed that the message, which read that the pirates will kill them and then remove their eyes and kidneys in order to be sold, is more a sort of a macabre hoax. On 27. October the third officer (name of the Yemeni man known but withheld until next of kin would speak out) died. The crew reported the case, evidence was provided and the owner confirmed that he also knows. Since there is no more light diesel to run the generators for the freezer, the owner reportedly just gave instructions to take the body off the vessel, but has made no arrangements to bring it back to Yemen.
Thereafter it was said that the group holding the ship would use it again to capture other vessels when two skiffs were taken taken on board hinting at plans that the gang intended to commandeer the ship to the high-seas again. But vessel and crew were then still held at Kulub near Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, because the vessel was out of fuel. The pirates, however, managed then to refuel from another vessel.
The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) in Yemen as well as ECOTERRA Intl. sent a letter on behalf of the families, following the news that one crew member had committed suicide.
The kidnap victim's families previously published a letter to the President in the state-owned October 14 newspaper in September.
"As it is the state's duty to protect its citizens and because of your public responsibility as the country's president, we demand you free the Yemeni hostages and investigate officials who did not do their duty to rescue them," reads the letter from HOOD to the President.
Also the families of the Indian seafarers on board have several times called upon the President and the Prime Minister of India and addressed the Indian Minister to help and solve the crisis, since the shipowner is not even responding to their requests for information.Though Dubai's Azal Shipping, fronting for the real owners, stated to a maritime website that the crew would not be malnourished, the governments of the seafarers already have statements from the captain and crew-members themselves, which state otherwise and also describe the appalling medical situation.
Again an urgent request to deliver relief-supplies in form of food, water and urgently required medicine as well as fuel for the generators has been made by the captain and crew, but was so far neglected by the ship-owner, who also has not yet facilitated the transfer of the body of the deceased to his Yemeni family. A great number of the still surviving 23 crew are suffering now from serious medical conditions of various kind , ranging from blindness, infections to mental illness, and most suffer from skin rashes, which make now humanitarian intervention and medical assistance compulsory.
It is hoped that the Indian Prime Minister, who was in the UAE, can achieve that the owners of the vessel are now really engaging in a tangible process to free the vessel and not just rely on their so-called consultants.
Latest reports state that the vessel is now only one mile off the beach off Kulub. Dangers that it might get wrecked on the beach are real, because the chief engineer alerted that there is no more fuel on board to manoeuvre the vessel away from the shore and heavy winds and waves push the vessel closer to land.
It would not be the first time that unscrupulous vessel or cargo owners even hope to cash in on the insurance money for a wrecked ship and lost cargo in such a case.
Since 02. February 2005 the classification society Bureau Veritas had withdrawn from this vessel, because a survey of the ship was already overdue back then and no survey has been carried out since. But this did not stop disputed outfits like the Canadian company Africa Oil to use the ICEBERG I as their supply vessel for their adventures with the Australian oil-juggler Range Resources and the Puntland regional administration and to take equipment back to Djibouti when their deal finally went sour recently.
The vessel is also not covered by an ITF Agreement and the crew will have serious difficulties to get their rights even once they come free.
Already the family of the deceased Yemeni seafarer and their lawyer from Aden had no success to achieve any co-operation from the vessel owner or their front-men - a situation experienced by several organizations already before.
Meanwhile the flag-state Panama and the governments of the seafarers have been addressed and are requested to step in. Panama's Shipping Registry, the largest in the world at the end of 2010, has finally exited the "grey list" compiled by signatories of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MOU.) The Paris MOU compiles a list of shipping registries that are not in compliance with international standards. It is expected now that the authorities from Panama will take their guarantor position as flag-state concerning the lives of the seamen on MV ICEBERG serious now.
For a long time reports said that the body of the deceased seafarer was decomposing, while vessel and crew are obviously also earmarked to rot unattended in that hell.
Reports from the destitute families say that the vessel-owner hasn't even paid any outstanding salaries and the Indian government has so far only reacted with diplomatic niceties, but no help to the situation in any way.
The vessel has now been moved from Kulub to Ceel Dhanaane south of Garacad, but the chief engineer said he has no more fuel to run the generators and that during one of the manoeuvres the propeller and shaft were damaged.
During the first week of February humanitarian mediation efforts achieved that some crew-members could talk to their families and the families reported that the vessel owner has completely abandoned the crew and his vessel, while also officials from the numerous governments, who are tasked because their nationals are hostages, reportedly also have achieved no step ahead, while the so-called owner of the vessel from AZAL SHIPPING recently stated to the pirates: "Whether you kill the crew or you sink the ship I don't care." - as documented by the crew.
Reports on a certain Somalia website, however, claiming that the chief engineer was missing from the ship and had been taken to an undisclosed location on land, turned out to be simply not true.The families of the Indian hostages on board went therefore public mid February 2011 and decried the total irresponsibleness of the Indian government. They stated to CNN/IBN that neither the Indian Prime Minister nor the the ministers concerned nor any of the authorities tasked with the duties to care for the hostage seafarers had shown any activity to work on the release of the seafarers on MV ICEBERG I.
The Yemeni family of the deceased sailor had been informed that they had to make a decision what should happen with the corpse, since the pirates were no longer willing to put diesel into the generator for the freezer.
The captain of the ill-fated ship stated that the owners of the vessel had given up ownership and has now addressed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to assist him with the transfer of ownership and the sale of vessel and cargo in order to recover the wages of the crew and to buy their freedom. He confirmed this also to the families and to CNN/IBN and sent respective written communication to the IMO.
The fathers of six Indian crew members of MV Iceberg I said now they will begin a hunger strike outside the home of India's Prime Minister in Delhi until the hostages are freed.For the first time in nearly a year, the Seafarers Association of India, now woke up too and they said "they were looking into the matter."
Meanwhile the alleged owner of the vessel at AZAL shipping, who is said to be of Yemeni origin, tried unsuccessfully to derail the brunt of the media and families, who even called now on the authorities of the UAE to arrest him, by claiming that he would negotiate through a Somali exGeneral, who used to work for the Somali government.
The fear that the shipping company wants to wreck the vessel is not over. NexLaw, a Consultancy founded and run by one Ravi Ravindran, who originated from Singapore and moved his business from Turkey into the Dubai Maritime City Free Zone under the name DMCEST and is dealing mainly with shipwrecks was on the case since long. Ravi Ravindran said Yassir Amin of Azal Shipping had mandated him. But with which task, is the question. To wreck it? The NexLaw/DMCEST company claimed already earlier to have been involved also in the case of secretly U.S.-owned but Yemen-based MV SEA PRINCESS II, a seajacked small tanker which was another case where one dead seafarer on board had to be decried and which was then finally freed by the involvement of the cargo-owners and not the consultancy. Since Ravi Ravindran obviously didn't achieve a release, Yassir Amin now resorted to claim that he had involved a Somali exGeneral from Mogadishu. Recent media reports by one Indian paper about a second death among the crew could not be verified and are believed to be not true. However, the situation of the crew is now really precarious with the shipowner apparently incapable and the pirates demanding.
Dutch warship HNLMS De Ruyter (F 804) had apparently tried in March to receive the body of the deceased Yemeni seafarer from the pirates, but because they approached in a way that the pirates believed it could be trick to launch an attack, their attempt was not successful. On the 27. October 2010 Wagdi Akram, a Yemeni and father of four , the third officer, jumped overboard in a fit of dementia. Akram's body was retrieved, stored in a freezer, wrapped in an orange plastic casing with a few bags of ice to keep it cold. Meanwhile it is reported that the gang had to dispose the body into the sea, since there was no more diesel to run the generator and even the crew is cooking now with firewood on board. The electric power having failed when the diesel for the generators ran out, and because the vessel owner did absolutely nothing to help the family to receive the body for burial, the man's remains were thrown overboard.
More and more signs are pointing to an outcome similar to that of ill-fated MV RAK AFRIKANA, which was wrecked on the coast of Somalia. Only in this case it will be most likely a more serious disaster, since the vessel is reportedly also carrying toxic fluids in containers, which are according to the manifest supposed to be empty. Already IMO, UNEP and other organizations, whose duty is to avert such grave pollution of a coastal ecosystem, have been called upon and the naval forces are urged not to let this vessel go down.
The case has turned into the most ugly tragedy if Somali pirate history, since it has been revealed now that the Chief engineer apparently is so severely handicapped now that his survival is seriously endangered.
MV ICEBERG I, however, still still moored at Ceel Dhanaane at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast, while diplomatic avoidance games and the neglect of responsibility from the side of the ownership unfortunately continue.
"We'll nearly die, all people are mental. In some more days people will kill themselves," said the hostage as reported by CNN/IBN, who had received a video tape from the ship and spoke to the crew.
"We have given the go-ahead to all countries in the world to deploy their navy ships there [the waters of Somalia]," Somali Ambassador to Indonesia, Mohamud Olow Barow, had told the media during a press conference in Jakarta on 12. April 2011. This broad statement is, however, disputed by the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament.
Despite several appeals from the families of the sailors, the government has not initiated a firm action yet, leaving the families miffed. The families have now reiterated their demand for government intervention in the matter and help release the sailors abducted.
Jaswinder Singh from Haryana is one the 6 Indians onboard the captured MV Iceberg that has been held captive by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Ever since the vessel got hijacked the family has been waiting to hear Jaswinder's voice. His family, like others, have been running from one ministry to other to bring back the sailors home.
Nirmal Kaur said, "I appeal to the Indian government to bring my husband back. It has been over a year now and no actions has been taken from our government." ``Our prime interest is to save the life of every Indian sailor being held hostage...that is the guiding concern for the government,'' said overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi.
However and despite all the diplomatic and media hype, nothing is happening concerning the release negotiations, observers close to the case reported on 02. May 2011.
In June 2011 it was reported that the Chief Engineer had finally succumbed to his injuries. The death could, however, at first not be verifieduntil Satnam Singh, a rescued seaman from MV SUEZ, who returned home, independently confirmed on 24. June 2011 that the the MV ICEBERG 1 Chief Engineer MOHAMED ABDALLA ALI KHAM, a Yemeni national, had indeed succumbed to the spinal injuries inflicted on him by the pirates. Also according to rescued MV Suez sailor NK Sharma, two sailors of MV Iceberg have already been killed by the pirates. He added that those killed are not Indians, which confirms our report.
Describing her daily struggle, sailor Ganesh's mother Pushplata Mohite said, "We can't sleep at night, can't sleep in the day, food doesn't taste good, every morning we wonder why are we alive. When we can't help our own son, what is the point of living?"
Life for Ganesh's family has come to a standstill. His brother Mangesh, who just passed his school said he will only celebrate once he sees Ganesh.
"The government of India should at least do something for MV Iceberg. Pirates have already killed two people on that ship," Madhu Sharma, wife of NK Sharma, told NDTV.
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, however, said that the government will not negotiate with pirates as this will only encourage piracy. They added that the Ministry of External Affairs and other ministries are in touch with the ship owners and will play the role of a facilitator. This, however, the Indian official had stated already a year ago with no tangible result leading to the release of the hostages.
The alleged governmental disinterest coupled with a ransom demand of nearly Rs 11.2 crore ($2.5 million) has forced the families of six Indian sailors help captive on board the MV Iceberg-I to do exactly that.
"We can no longer trust the government because it has failed to keep its promises. We request the business fraternity and Bollywood to help us in raising funds for the release of our sons.
They have helped needy families in the past and we hope that they will help us too. We will take to the roads to draw people's attention if need be," said Purshottam Tiwari, father of Dheeraj, who is the chief officer-in-command of MV Iceberg-I.
Mr Tiwari alleged that the government is unwilling to help them because the people involved are not high-profile ones.
"Our children are very low profile as compared to captives in other cases. Had it been a plane hijack, the government would have done anything to ensure the captives' release.
The hijack of IC-814 by a Pakistan-based terror organisation is one such example where the government released hardcore terrorists and doled out money to send negotiators to help with the passengers' release," he said.
The distraught families have pleaded with the who's who of the nation, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewary, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, the Director General (Shipping) and even yoga guru Ramdev, but to no avail. The families also staged a dharna near Jantar Mantar along with Sushma Swaraj.
Indian sailors on board the MV Iceberg-I are: Dheeraj Tiwari from Nashik, Swapnil Jadhav from Satara, Ganesh Mohite from Mumbai, Saji Kumar Purshottam from Kerala, Santosh Kumar Yadav from Uttar Pradesh and Jaswinder Singh from Haryana.
Efforts by the families to raise the demanded ransom are still not supported by the Indian government and it is hoped that third-line efforts are not faced by similar setbacks like it was the case in the release of MV SUEZ. Azal Shipping and the UAE, however, have now been urged to also finally co-operate with the release efforts and to end the ordeal.
Meanwhile the company has received a legal notice to declare which efforts were made to assist and free the crew, but it seems that Azal Shipping fronting for clandestine Iceberg International is not complying and therefore a law suit and the involvement of the UAE authorities is taken into consideration.
The families of the seafarers are devastated and haven't even be able to make phone contact with the hostages during the months of June and July 2011.
End of July 2011 the pirate gang holding crew and ship had obviously found a co-investor and refuelled the vessel, while an earlier reported damage to the propeller obviously has either not been so grave or could be repaired, since the vessel moved furhter south to Ceel Dhanaane.. FV AL-DHAFIR : Seized on May 06 or 07, 2010. The Yemen coastguard of the Arabian peninsular state reported the case to have occurred off the coast of Yemen. Yemen's Defence Ministry confirmed that the 7 Yemeni nationals on board were abducted to Somalia. Yemen's coastguard said Somali pirates captured the fishing vessel, while it was docked at a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and had taken it to Somalia. The coastguard was continuing its efforts to retrieve the boat, the Defence Ministry said, but meanwhile the dhow was said to be held at the Somali shore close to Kulub. The vessel is missing and wanted.
4 CREW OF FV PRANTALAY 12 (Prantalay stands for "Sea Hunter"; vessel falsely called by some "Frantalay 12") : Seized April 18, 2010. On 12. July 2011 FV PRANTALAY was still reported to be moored 7nm off Eyl, but thereafter the vessel cut its anchor and drifted to Dinowda. After the longer ordeal (see older updates) the vessel was without fuel and had lost its anchorage at Dhanane (a little known location 8nm South of Eyl where also MV IRENE was held - not Ceel Dhanaane where the vessel was held a longer time ago) in the heavy swell and drifted to the shore near Dinowda, where it is beached now.
The Somali group, which was holding the last vessel of a fleet of three captured fishing vessels from Thailand, FV PRANTALAY 12, releasedon 01. of August 2011 the surviving 14 Burmese nationals of the originally 25 hostages into the hands of local elders, who handed the these nationals from Myanmar to the authorities of Puntland, the federal regional state of Somalia, who wants to fly them home with UN help.
While 7 of the crew-members had died already in the horrible ordeal, as we reported earlier, four crew of Thai nationality are now held on land near Dinowda, including the captain, the chief engineer, the chief officer and an oiler.
The gang demands still for a ransom to release them.
Marine observers believe the group holding the vessel, seen already earlier as unseaworthy by NATO officials, will try to get the ship afloat, but lack an auxiliary vessel to pull the ship from the beach. Therefore the vessel appears to be now lost for the shipowner, which is why we strike it off our monitoring list. It is in this case not believed by analysts that the stranding of the vessel was organized to cash in on an insurance.
However, the biggest problem is now to free the remaining four crew-members and to secure their safe repatriation, since it appears that they can no longer be freed together with their vessel.
A human rights monitor could get proof of life for the remaining four sailors over a crackling mobile phone line in a re-routed conference call.
The Chief Officer, who gave his name as Ton Wiasing, said in broken English that they are four Thai nationals and he did plead for help to the ship-owner, his government and anyone who can help, because still the gang demands for a ransom to release them. The government of Thailand and the vessel owner have been informed. The four remaining hostages are now held for ransom on land near Dinowda.
MSV SHUVAL : Seized May 08, 2010. Latest information retrieved about the fate of this Yemen-flagged vessel confirmed a sighting at Garacad, where the vessel was at anchorage on 9. June 2010. Yemeni authorities could not tell the number of crew and were further investigating, but have not been able to provide any tangible information.
FV NN YEMEN : Seized August 26, 2010. The earlier reports provided by maritime observers speaking of the capture of a fishing vesselwere confirmed now to the extend that the type and flag of the vessel have been identified. The Yemeni fishing vessel with at least 10 sailors on board was seized in the territorial waters of Somalia. The name of the vessel and Yemeni registration is not yet known. The Yemeni boat was sailing near the north coast of Somalia when the captors attacked it with small skiffs. They later headed toward the Somali coast. Present location unknown. At the beginning of November 2010 in total at least five Yemeni fishing vessels were held by the Somali sea-gangs, though the Yemen authorities could not provide a detailed account. The case of this vessel has not yet been closed - the vessel is missing and wanted.
MT OLIB G : Seized September 08, 2010. Reports from our local observers were confirmed by EU NAVFOR: Early on the morning of 8 September, the Greek-owned, Malta-flagged Merchant Vessel (M/V) MT OLIB G (IMO 8026608) - a Greek-owned chemical tanker - was pirated in the east part of the protected Gulf of Aden corridor. After having received a report from a merchant vessel that a skiff was approaching MV OLIB G, and after several unsuccessful attempts to make contact with the vessel, the USS PRINCETON warship of Task Force 151 launched its helicopter. The helicopter was able to identify two pirates on board MT OLIB G, the EU report stated. The MT OLIB G was sailing West in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor en route from Alexandria to India through the Gulf of Aden - allegedly carrying only ballast. The Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) is an area in which EU NAVFOR (Task Force 465), NATO (Task Force 508) and Combined Maritime Force (Task Force 151) coordinate the patrol of maritime transits. It is, however, not known yet if the vessel was involved in dumping or why it was just sailing with ballast. The MT OLIB G, deadweight 6,375 tons, has a crew of 18, among which are 15 Georgian and 3 Turkish. Crew and vessel are not covered by ITF Agreement. The vessel has as registered owners FRIO MARITIME SA and as manager FRIO VENTURES SA, , which apparently went into receivership, both of Athens in Greece. The attack group is said to consist of people from the Majerteen (Puntland) and Warsangeli (Sanaag) clans, who had set out from Elayo. After the well timed attack - more or less synchronized with attacks on two other vessels - and the subsequent overpowering of the crew the vessel was then commandeered towards the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, where it was first held near Eyl and then off Kulub. According to media reports the owner of the vessel initially offered a ransom of $75,000, but later raised it to $150,000. However, the sea pirates want no less than $15 million, a Press TV correspondent reported, which is a totally unrealistic figure.
"Our sons and husbands are innocent, like the Somali people, and we ask the pirates, al-Shabaab and all Somalia to show humanity, in the name of God," Kakhaberidze Nazibrola, wife of the ship's Master, said in an articled written on behalf of the families of the crew.
Information had transpired that the Georgian government made arrangements with the vessel owner to free the ship and crew by end of February 2010, but that hasn't come true yet.
Vessel and crew are at present still held south of Eyl and north of Garacad near a place called Ceel Fusc at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia and different reports about continued conflicts have been received. Negotiations are on and off.
MSV NASTA AL YEMEN : Reportedly seized on Sept. 14, 2010. Number of crew yet unknown, but presumed 9. Further report awaited from Yemen.
SEVEN INDIAN CREW OF MT ASPHALT VENTURE : Seized September 28, 2010. The Panama-flagged asphalt tanker MT ASPHALT VENTURE (IMO 8875798) was captured on her way from Mombasa - where the vessel left at noon on 27. September, southbound to Durban, at 20h06 UTC = 23h06 local time in position 07 09 S 40 59 E. The vessel was sailing in ballast and a second alarm was received at 00h58 UTC = 03h58 LT. The ship with its 15 all Indian crew was then observed to have turned around and is at present commandeered northwards to Somalia. EU NAVFOR confirmed the case only in the late afternoon of 29. September. Information from the ground says a pirate group from Brawa had captured the vessel and at first it was reported that the vessel was heading towards Harardheere at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast, while the tanker had first contact at the Somali coast near Hobyo and was then commandeered further north. The vessel is managed by ISM manager OMCI SHIPMANAGEMENT PVT LTD from Mumbai and owned by BITUMEN INVEST AS from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, who uses INTER GLOBAL SHIPPING LTD from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates as ship-handler. The Government of India and other authorities are informed. Concerning the condition of the crew so far no casualties or injuries are reported, but the vessel seems to have had an engine problem. Negotiations had commenced but have so far not been reaching anywhere. Vessel and crew were held off Kulub at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, then had been transferred southwards to Ceel Gaan in the Harardheere area at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast with negotiations more stuck than smooth; and when the crew reportedly had no more food, clean water and diesel a hasty and ill-planned release against a ransom drop was enacted on 15. April 2011. While the vessel got away at least some distance, seven Indian crew were left behind on the beach, who continue to be held as hostages.
Sunil Puri, a New Delhi-based spokesman for Interglobal, a United Arab Emirates-based company that owns the ship, called the pirates' action "unprecedented," and said to the media that it wasn't immediately clear why the pirates acted as they did. "We are still trying to ascertain why that happened. We kept our side of the bargain. We don't know why they weren't released. This is an unprecedented situation. In the past they have always kept their word," Puri told AP.
"It was a joint understanding among us not to release any Indian citizens," a pirate who gave his name as Abdi told Reuters from pirate stronghold Harardhere. "India has not only declared war against us, but also it has risked the lives of many hostages," he said. However, it is clear that the release operation was not properly planned and executed - analysts maintain. Already before this case and at present 15 other sailors from three different cases are held hostage on land without their ships, awaiting to be freed.
"My name is Bahadur Singh. I'm the chief engineer of Asphalt Venture held by Somali pirates. We are seven people here," said the hostage in a contact CNN-IBN made and which gave a proof of life.
Indian seafarers, organized by the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI), the Maritime Union of India as well as shipowners' representatives, marched in Mumbai on 27. April 2011 to demand action against piracy and to show solidarity with the seven crew members of the Asphalt Venture held hostage in Somalia despite the fact that a ransom was paid. After waiting in vain for about a fortnight in Somali waters for the release of seven members still held hostage by Somali pirates, Indian freighter Asphalt Venture with its eight freed crew reached Mombasa in Kenya with only half the crew. "With the engineering officers still in captivity and no engine power, the vessel proceeded slowly under tug tow and under escort of an Indian Naval frigate out of Somali waters," the statement added.
So far it is not clear if India is prepared to arrange for a swap.
The son of the Chief Engineer of the captive ship under Somali pirates Kapil Grewal, has lashed out at the government and demanded immediate intervention from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.Captive sailor Bahadur Singh's son, Kapil Grewal, said "Mr Manmohan Singh is the leader of one of the most powerful nations today, and it is time he acts like one. It is not a question of my father, it is a question of several fathers, brother and sons, so treat them as your own family."Grewal's father Bahadur Singh, the Chief Engineer of Asphalt Venture is still in Somali pirates' captivity along with six other officers in spite of a ransom payment and the worst is, unlike earlier when they were confined to the ship, now they are at an undisclosed location near Haradhere in Somalia."
In the case of MV Iceberg and MV Suez, the government had maintained that all that it can do is put pressure on the ship owner to expedite negotiations, but in the case of Asphalt Venture the ship owner has already paid a ransom and now the ball is firmly in the government's court as to how they will negotiate with the pirates.
meanwhile the owners of Asphalt Venture reportedly have been able to re-establish contact with the negotiators, opening up a fresh channel of dialogue to get back the remaining hostages. This case will show if the demand to release the over 120 Somali brethren from Indian prison in exchange for the seven Indian hostages is serious or if the pirate-gang just used the talk to increase the ransom.
The captain of MV Asphalt Venture, who was released along with seven others, had offered to go back and hold talks for release of the remaining crew, while the newly founded Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) of the Indian government only decided that it would "wait and watch for the outcome of negotiations between pirates and ship owners."
But now sources from the shipping company stated that the pirates do not want to carry on with any dialogue involving the company and instead want to speak directly with the Government of India. The pirates want to talk about their accomplices who are currently in Indian custody after they were arrested following Indian Navy and Coast Guard operations in the Indian Ocean in the last few months. But New Delhi, it seems, doesn't want to negotiate with the pirates. The decision was taken at an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG),
However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court now issued notices to the Central government of India on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking release of Indian Nationals held hostage by Somali pirates. A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice A K Goel issued notices to the Central government on a PIL filed by World Human Rights Protection Council through its chairman Advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal.
The Indian state organs are meanwhile holding at least 126 Somalis from piracy connected cases in detention.
While the Indian government leaves the case to the vessel owner and the vessel owner found it difficult to negotiate anything concerning an exchange - together the resulting sotuation is that hardly any negotiations are forthcoming and of late communications have broken down.
FV NN IRAN : Seized October 01, 2010. The Iranian fishing vessel with her 13 crew was attacked by Somali pirates when sailing together with another Iranian fishing vessel. One of the two Iranian boats escaped, but this one with 13 crew mebers is still missing and is wanted.
MSV ZOULFICAR (aka M.S.V. Madina Zulficar?): Seized on October 19, 2010. This is a motorized sailing dhow, which was captured near the Socotra archipelago. It must not be mixed with the case of earlier pirated Comorian MV ALY ZOULFECAR, which is free. Yemen authorities stated that it would not be a Yemeni vessel, but could possibly be from Iran. Number of crew is not known and further details are awaited. It could, however, be the M.S.V. Madina Zulficar, a known blockade-breaker registered in India, but often flying the flag of the UAE or Somalia. The vessel is missing and wanted.
MSV AL-NASSR : Seized October 28, 2010 off Socotra.The motorized Dhow was captured on October 28, 2010 at 11h56 UTC (14h56 local time) in position 12:08N – 054:25E off Socotra Island, Somalia, according to the IMB Piracy reporting centre. Once a British protectorate, along with the remainder of the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra and being a strategic important point, the four islands making the Archipelago of Socotra were accorded by the UN in 1967 to Yemen, though they are very close to the mainland of the very tip of north-eastern Somalia. Several of the female lineages of the inhabitants on the island, notably those in mtDNA haplogroup N, are reportedly found nowhere else on earth. The Dhow with presently unknown flag and about 10 crew was heading now towards the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor of the Gulf of Aden (IRTC) and is likely to be used as pirate-base and/or decoy to capture a larger vessel.Further reports are awaited.
SY CHOIZIL : Seized 26. October 2010. South-African owned SY CHOIZIL was sea-jacked after having left Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.Though news through the seafarer's network had broken much earlier, the case was officially only confirmed on 08. November. The yacht is owned and was sailed by South African skipper Peter Eldridge from Richards Bay on the northeast coast of KwaZulu Natal, who escaped after the yacht was commandeered to Somalia, while his South African team-mates Bruno Pelizzari (named by one wire service once "Pekezari"), in his 50's, with partner Deborah from Durban were taken off the boat and are still held hostage on land in Somalia. Several questions remain still unanswered, though after the return of the skipper to South-Africa it was officially stated that the yacht had been abducted off Kenya this is still conflicting with other naval reports. Since the own yacht of the abducted couple is still moored at the harbour in Dar es Salaam it could well be that they only joined or actually hired skipper Eldridge first for a short trip north to Kenya.
Both present hostages, Bruno Pelizzari and his girlfriend "Debbie", Deborah Calitz, were on board when the yacht under the command of Peter Endrigde allegedly heading south to Richards Bay from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on October 21 or 22. Together with the skipper and owner of the yacht, the trio were said at first to have then encountered the pirates on 31. October 2010 in the open sea.
At least one of the attacking pirates appeared to have been from Tanzania and spoke KiSwahili. However, the sloop rigged sailing yacht set up for long distance cruising was then commandeered to Somalia by five Somalis - apparently with the aim to reach Harardheere at the Central Somali coast.
When observers had on 04. November a sighting of a yacht near the Bajuni Island of Koyaama at the Southern coast of Somalia, the search for a missing yacht was on in order to identify the boat and the sailors, but neither the Seychelles nor the network of yachts-people reported any missing yacht, though at that point already even the involvement of a second yacht was not ruled out.
Navies were then trailing the yacht at least since 04. November.
The fleeing yacht was on 06. November forced by the pursuing navies to come close to Baraawa (Brawa). There the yacht had "officially" again been located by the EU NAVFOR French warship FS FLOREAL when it was "discovered to be sailing suspiciously close to shore", so the statement. Despite numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the yacht, including a flypast by the warship's helicopter, allegedly no answer was received and the French warship launched her boarding team to investigate further, a EU NAVFOR statement revealed and it was also officially stated that they had received a Mayday signal. Why only then the emergency call was sent and not much earlier, has so far not been explained.
After a direct chase by naval forces escalating the situation and the yacht running aground, SY CHOIZIL's skipper Peter Eldridge reportedly jumped over board during a close naval swoop, when also shots were fired and a naval helicopter and a commando team in a speedboat were engaged. Other reports state the owner of the yacht, Peter Eldridge, managed to escape when he refused to leave the boat he built with his own hands 20 years ago. Officials now put it as "the yacht's skipper refused to cooperate" - usually a call for immediate and even deadly response in any hostage situation the world over where armed assailants are involved.
However, Peter Eldridge was later picked up by the French navy and was placed into safety on a Dutch naval vessel. He is confirmed to be a South-African by nationality and his next of kin were informed immediately. After he then arrived at the Kenyan harbour of Mombasa on board the Dutch warship, he was handed over to South African officials and brought to Kenya's capital Nairobi, from where he returned to South-Africa.
Peter Eldridge, who was a member of the Zululand Yacht Club which uses the Richards Bay Harbour as its base, stated later: "The yacht was attacked by pirates - all men aged between 15 and 50 - on October 26," and thereafter: "They demanded money. They took the money that Deborah and Pelizzari were carrying for their families. They demanded more and we told them that we did not have more because we were ordinary people."
Andrew Mwangura, co-ordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said earlier he assumed the yacht had been towed to Mombasa as could have been expected with all the naval presence, but at the same time ECOTERRA Intl. received information from their marine monitors in Somalia saying the yacht was left behind by the naval forces and was at that time drifting. Peter Eldridge's wife, Bernadette, told later the South African Times that she did not know whether her husband Peter would return to Somalia to retrieve what's left of his yacht, SY Choizil, which was run aground during the incident. It is, however, unclear how official statements and the owner himself can speak of "having resisted to the pirates" and insisting that he "was not leaving his yacht alone", when at the same time he must have left it to be rescued by the navy.
"We only can hope that a report speaking of the killing of one man, whereby at present nobody can say if that had been caused by the naval interaction or by the pirates or if it is mixed with another case, will turn out to be not correct at all," a spokesman from ECOTERRA Intl. saidon 07. November and added: "and we hope and urge the local elders to ensure that the innocent woman and man will be set free immediately. Since the Al-Shabaab administration, who governs vast areas in Southern Somalia, where the ancient coastal town of Baraawe (Brawa) is located, had earlier openly condemned any act of piracy, it is hoped that a safe and unconditional release of the hostages can be achieved."
The naval command of the European Operation Atalanta stated on 09. November that the whereabouts of the other two crew members was "currently unknown, despite a comprehensive search by an EU NAVFOR helicopter."
Karl Otto of the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Cape Town stated that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation was handling the hostage situation.
International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Saul Kgomotso Molobi confirmed this on 10. November and said the pirates had not yet made any ransom demand.
While the families of the Durban couple are sick with worry while they wait to hear from the kidnappers, the skipper's wife said: "We have been restricted from giving out more information. I have been told not to say more," but did not want to reveal who had told her to keep quiet.
South African High Commissioner Ndumiso Ntshinga said he is in constant contact with authorities in Somalia who are involved in the search for Bruno Pelizzari and his girlfriend.
Ntshinga indicated that maybe the story that they were taken off Kenya - as the Seychelles had officially claimed - is not correct, by saying:"We have always believed that their reach was mostly around Somalia but if they are going to be going down to the Gulf of Mozambique then it is worrying," said Ntshinga. Naval sources not with EU NAVFOR had earlier stated the attack was at the boundary between Tanzania and Kenya while other naval sources had spoken of the boundary between Tanzania and Mozambique.
After two weeks into the crisis the South African government still stated only: "At this point in time we do not know where they are. We have instructed our consulate to handle the matter," foreign ministry spokesman Malusi Mogale told AFP.
Director of Consular Services at the International Relations Department, Albie Laubscher, said all they can do is wait.
"The situation is that we are expecting the pirates to make contact in some way or another."
Information from Somalia says that the couple was held then for a few days held firth south and then inside Brawa but thereafter was moved to an undisclosed location.
For the Government of South Africa Mr. Albie Laubscher, the director of consular services at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, said the families of the Durban couple had been briefed that the hostage drama could be a long, drawn-out affair. He said it was government policy not to pay ransom.
The escaped skipper Peter Eldridge maintains that they had been sea-jacked off the Kenyan coast, but failed to explained why they were there instead on their planned route to the South from Dar es Salaam.
A friend of Pelizzari, Jason Merle, said the former elevator technician had decided about four years ago to sell his house and build a yacht. 'He and Debbie invested their lives in that boat, which is now docked in Dar es Salaam, waiting for them to come back to Tanzania,' Merle said. 'They don't have any money. Neither does the family. Ransom is going to be pointless. They're not going to get anything out of that couple. The only thing they have is that yacht and a laptop.'
The abducted yacht SY CHOIZIL is still held at the Somali coast, while the couple is now said to be held somewhere in the area of Somalia's embattled capital Mogadishu.
In an effort to send the message to pirates that Deborah is African born and should not be treated like a European or an American, Deborah's brother Dale van der Merwe has denied media reports his sister was of British or Italian descent.
'She does not have any British ties and has never set foot in Britain. We are worried that should her captors read this... it may skew their perception of who Debbie really is and try attach values to her as it was done in the case of the recently released British Chandler couple.'
He said the couple were 'ordinary workers'. They had been sailing for almost two years, stopping at ports on Africa's coast to 'visit and do occasional work'. See: http://yachtpals.com/node/12445
'Anyone who knows or meets them (including their captors) will see that they are gentle and kind people who are not interested in politics but only love sailing, ' he said and added 'Debbie and Bruno will help anyone regardless of their politics, religion, nationality or race, and frequently at their own cost. They are just fellow Africans who work hard and have a passion for sailing."
The family asked the couple's captors to keep them unharmed and release them back to their families and children, whom they have not seen for so long.
The Dutch Navy detained two groups of Somalis during the last week of November, believing those arrested could be involved in the abduction of Bruno Pelizzari and his girlfriend Deborah Calitz. The people on board of two different skiffs threw their guns overboard when they realised they were about to be attacked by a naval force. But only skipper Peter Eldridge would be able to confirm whether any of the suspects were involved in the attack. Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said fishermen and coastal traders also carried weapons in these dangerous waters and the Dutch Navy could have the wrong men and add to the complications. The Kenyan and the South-African government had refused to accept the men for prosecution, since there was no evidence, and the Dutch Navy was for days in limbo - not knowing what to do with them. Then on 05 November five of these Somalis were flown on a military plane to Eindhoven, in the south of the Netherlands to stand trial in Rotterdam for abducting the two South Africans from their yacht. The five were among some 20 suspected pirates rounded up last month in two separate operations. The other 15 were released due to a lack of evidence at an undisclosed location and their case is seen by human rights lawyers as illegal arrest and possible refoulement.
After now more than one month the South African government maintains that no ransom demands have been made, but has not stated if there was no contact or if other demands were brought forward.
According to South African officials there was still no sign of the South African couple captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia at the end of November and Carte Blanche spoke to their Durban-based families, who are concerned that there've been no ransom demands.
International Relations spokesman Clayson Monyela said on 10. December that the kidnappers have yet to make contact with the South African government or the relatives of Bruno Pelizzari and his partner, Deborah Calitz.
It seems that the first contact possibilities were lost by the South-African officials.
The daughter of Mrs. Calitz also appealed to the captors to at least come forward and start talks on a release.
But after two months, on Thursday, 25. December 2010, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela still could only say: "There is nothing new on the South African couple who were hijacked by Somali pirates." Mrs. Calitz' brother Dale van der Merwe said: "The situation stays unchanged, we are still waiting for information.
Skipper Peter Eldridge was in January 2011 interviewed by police and court officials in the Netherlands on the case and reportedly testified that the attack had happened off Tanzania and not off Kenya, as he allegedly had stated to South African officials earlier, who issued this as statement. As South African media reported, Eldridge stated that he also looked at photographs of the accused men and identified some of them as the pirates who had hijacked the Choizil. Why he was not taken through a proper process of identification and raises questions for the defence lawyers.
As of mid January 2011 communication lines seem to have been established with those who hold the couple now and the yacht is used off Barawa to shuttle from and to the illegal dhows, who load charcoal at the coastal town for illegal export. While the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has no say in that area also the Islamist Al Shabaab administration seems to do nothing against this illegal trade, which also has been termed haram already by several Muslim scholars.
An article by a South-African media house exaggerating the ransom demands while quoting unnamed sources of so-called family friends, was not only rubbished in South-Africa but also from circles close those, who hold the couple in the moment. Andrew Mwangura, officer of the Seafarer's Assistance Program, and frequent reporter on pirate issues, had earlier said that the pirates could be persuaded to take a smaller sum. It seems that unscrupulous brokers and media have no restraint in trying to hype up the story.
However, the brother of Mrs. Calitz said on 31. January 2011 that any ransom demand for his sister was "pointless" unless he could speak to her. Dale van der Merwe said he had asked telephone callers demanding a USD10 million (R70m) ransom for the release of his sister Deborah Calitz for proof that she was alive. "I said to them: 'If you really are who you say who you are, then let me speak to her.' They said no." And van der Merwe appealed again: "We are asking you to please let them go... They are just ordinary Africans like yourselves with similar problems, we are not rich."
International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Director General, Clayson Monyela, said the department was doing its part to ensure the safe return of the two, while also the calls of the three daughters of Deborah Calitz to free their mother have so far not been responded to by the kidnappers.
While the official line of the South African Government to not negotiate or pay ransoms remains unchanged, in mid February 2011 a second brother of Mrs. Calitz - Kevin van der Merwe who lives in Auckland, New Zealand - broke the silence and called for a public funds-drive to enable the family to make an offer for a release to the Somali hostage takers, who hold them now. He said time was running out and they had to do something, adding: ''I am very worried about them mentally and physically.''
A trust account was being set up and he said even the smallest donation would help.
The ransom demanded for the safe release of a Durban couple being held hostage by Somali pirates has been dropped by half, with religious leaders in Mogadishu putting pressure on the pirates to let them go unconditionally, but neither will the family be able to collect the still multimillion dollar ransom nor do they seem to get the right advice and as longer the case takes as more complicated it will get to finalize it.
The obvious media black-out until June 2011 was only interrupted by the spread of false rumours and has not helped the hostages a bit.
On 20. June 2011 Deborah Calitz's daughter, Samantha, then broke the silence and told Eyewitnessnews she believes her mother is alive, after the pirates answered a proof of life question two weeks ago and she said the family is still hopeful she will be released unharmed. Neither Calitz nor her partner Bruno Pelizzari have been allowed to speak to their families but De Jesus said the news they have received is good. "Apparently they are being kept in a compound type of a place where they can exercise and walk around a bit," she said. She said they are still trying to negotiate down the ransom the pirates are demanding. While a Somalia-reporting website and South-African news-outlets engage in pure speculations, the relatives of Pelizzari say they have not received fresh information. They hope the couple will be released as it is impossible for them to raise the demanded ransom.
Meanwhile the yacht, which had been taken by the pirate group to the South but had broken down with engine failure has disappeared again from the island of Koyama. Local elder reported in the beginning of July that they are happy to no longer be threatened by the sea-gangsters.
Van der Merwe said he knew the couple were alive because during each phone call he asked "proof of life questions", which were always answered correctly.
Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela said the government was working with the Pelizzari and Calitz families but would not pay or compensate any ransom money.
The Dutch navy had caught five Somali men two weeks after the hijack. A Dutch court on 12. August 2011 sentenced two Somali pirates, who were involved in the hijack of the South African yacht to up to seven years in jail. The men were convicted of seizing the boat off Tanzania and abducting the South African couple, who remain missing. The three other Somalis - captured at the same time heavily armed with machine guns and bazookas - were also convicted of piracy, although their involvement in the hijack could not be proven.
The court stated that it could be clarified that the yacht and her originally 3 person crew had been captured off the Tanzania coast - and not off Lamu/Kenya or the Tanzanian-Kenyan border, which contradicting official reports from governments and navies had claimed (see above).
It has been a 10 months hostage ordeal now and the families of South African hostages issued this heart-rending plea: Frantic appeal on kidnap by pirates
Pelizzari's sister, Vera Hecht, who is having to negotiate with the pirates, told Newswatch her heart skipped a beat when they let her speak to her brother on Monday the 22. August 2011. "I could not believe my ears when I answered the call and they had Bruno answering the phone. But he was only allowed to say what they had told him to say obviously and he wasn't allowed to have a little conversation with me, and he sounded like he was talking with a thick lip." Hecht has called on South Africans to support efforts to bring Pelizzari and Calitz home.
FV AL JAZEERA : Seized November 04, 2010. The Yemeni fishing vessel with an unknown number of crew is missing and wanted.
MSV AL BOGARI : Sighted November 7, 2010, as being hijacked, no further data.
FV SAMANALI (Lorance) : Seized Nov 11, 2010 or shortly thereafter. The missing Sri Lankan Fishing Vessel Samanali (Lorance) has the Registration Number 1 DAY-A-0164-NBO. The names of the 4 man crew consisting of the skipper and three crew-fishermen have been provided with the crewlist.They are all of Sri Lankan nationality. The small 34 ft. (10.36 m) wooden fishing boat sports as main colour a light Blue with red and yellow stripes. The deck colour is white.
Vessel and crew sailed on 10. November 2010 at 17h45 from Hendala, at Wattala on Sri Lanka's Western coast.
It was between 10th November and 30th November that two other Sri Lankan FV's were attacked by suspected Somali Piratesand it is feared that this FV may have also been pirated.
The vessel is still missing and wanted.
FV NN COMOROS : Seized on November 18, 2010. The Comoros-flagged fishing vessel with a two man crew was confirmed sea-jacked inside the territorial waters of the Comoros. So far the identity of the vessel has not been released and the fate of the crew is not known. MV ALBEDO : Seized on November 26, 2010. The Malaysia-flagged box-ship MV ALBEDO (IMO 9041162) en route from Jebel Ali in the UAE to Mombasa in Kenya was boarded in the early morning hours and an alarm was raised at 03h00 UTC (06h00 LT) in position 05:38N – 068:27E, which is around 255 nm west of the Maldives group of islands. The master had reported to the Malaysian owners already on that fateful Friday that pirates were on-board and his vessel was hijacked. That information was then forwarded to to the navies. However, EU NAVFOR confirmed only 3 days later on mid-Monday that the vessel was captured. Why EU NAVFOR only reported so late is not known, but maybe because a Danish Navy frigate was sailing Saturday to the rescue of the German freighter MCL Bremen, a multi-purpose 130-metre freighter, which was nearby attacked by pirates. But following standard procedures, the whole crew barricaded themselves in a secret room and the attackers later left that vessel before the warship arrived and MLC BREMEN is reportedly sailing free. The sea-jacked 1,066-TEU container vessel MV ALBEDO has a crew of 23 sailors. Six hail from Sri Lanka and others from Pakistan, Iran, India and Bangladesh. Registered owner and manager is MAJESTIC ENRICH SHIPPING SDN, which was incorporated on January 25, 2008 as a private limited company under the name of Majestic Enrich Sdn Bhd in Malaysia by Iranian shipping executives and on April 3 changed its name to Majestic Enrich Shipping Sdn Bhd.
According to the owners, most of the containers contain cement, which by now is assumed to have been already rendered unusable due to the extended stay on sea in high humidity. Pirates had claimed that some of the containers had contained weapons.
The vessel was held south of Ceel Gaan at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast off Harardheere, had been briefly used for a spin at the beginning of April 2011, but returned to the coast. Communications to secure the release of vessel and crew ran reportedly into problems and real negotiations for her release are said to have not yet achieved a consent. The vessel is now held off Ceel Dhanaane because a serious problem had also evolved between the two clan groups who have members among the pirate gang holding the vessel. A mock attack by naval forces with close overflights and closing in of a naval vessel only created havoc but did not contribute to a better solution finding. The negotiations haven't resumed and most of the crew is held on land.
FV NN IRAN (Reg: 4/3386) : Seized December 07, 2010. The Iranian fishing vessel with the Registration Number 4/3386 and her crew of 11 was allegedly seized by Somali pirates together with a second Iranian fishing vessel (4/3810), which had been released and did reach Iran. No. 4/3386 is still missing and wanted.
MV MSC PANAMA : Seized December 10, 2010. At 12h12 UTC (09h12 LT) on 10 December 2010 the U.S.American-owned container vessel MSC PANAMA (IMO: 8902125) was reported to be under attack by an armed group of in total five sea-shifta in two skiffs on board in position 09°57S - 041°46E. A Rocket Propelled Grenade was used during the attack which occurred approximately 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian/Mozambique border. On the afternoon of 10 December, the merchant vessel was then confirmed pirated and in position Latitude: 10°00S Longitude: 041°51E. The boxship was en route from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to Beira (Mozambique) when the attack occurred. This southerly attack in the Western Indian Ocean is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity, triggered by naval activities in the Gulf of Aden and close to the Somali shores and is apparently also serving an agenda of implicating more and more regional countries. One of the the previously sea-jacked fishing vessels was used in the attack. The 26,288 dwt MSC PANAMA is a Liberian flagged container ship, operated by SHIP MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC from Coral Gables Florida, a US based company and an affiliate of Ultrapetrol, fronting for registered owner EURUS BERLIN LLC. SMS shares an office, address, and employee roster with US-listed owner Ultrapetrol's management subsidiary, Ravenscroft Ship Management. It is said to be an Eastwind container ship, whereby it was noted that Eastwind Maritime Inc., a Marshall Islands Corporation filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York on June 24th, 2009 (Case No. 09-14047 - ALG). The vessel is operated under long-term charter by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and insured with Standard P&I Club per Charles Taylor & Co. The 1,743-teu box ship has a crew of 23 seafarers, who all are from Myanmar (Burma)."The Somali pirates let the Burmese crewmen call their families three days ago. All said they were in good health and told their families not to worry about them," an official at the Rangoon branch of St. John's Ship Management said on condition of anonymity to Mizzima News. Although the crewmen were not in mortal danger, they needed to keep their spirits up while being held by the pirates, Htay Aung, a central executive committee member of the junta-supported Myanmar Overseas Seafarers' Association, said. The release of the MSC Panama and the crewmen would depend on the negotiations between the pirates and the company and such talks normally take more than two months, Thai-based Seafarers' Union of Burma official Aung Thura told Mizzima. His union had been outlawed by the Burmese ruling governance.
The vessel arrived in Somalia and is held now south of Ceel Gaan at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast off Harardheere district, close to MV ALBEDO. Cargo owners are increasingly upset with MSC - Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. - about the slow pace of the release negotiations.
Meanwhile around six of the badly stored containers from the top have reportedly tipped over in heavier swell and crushed onto the deck. Thereby some broke open, which reportedly contained goods in bulk, like a consignment of shoes, which are now said to be sold in the central Somali town. Other observers stated that these goods came from earlier looted MV RAK AFRICANA.
The crew is reportedly still healthy , though their food stock is finished and they have no more clean drinking water.
Unfortunately the negotiations to solve the case have apparently stalled. Reports from Harardheere revealed that the last contact for release talks was made end of March 2011. Allegedly the pirate gang and the people negotiating for the owners had then not only a disagreement about the level of the ransom, but had fallen apart and no mediation came forward for a long time. Due to this bad situation also some containers have been broken into and some limited looting started, local observers stated. For a while also other hostages were held on the vessel.
A ransom agreement has not been reached between the pirates and the St.Johns Ship Mangement Company which owns the MV Panama, according to the company's Rangoon branch office, stated Htay Aung, a central executive committee member of the Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB) on 05. May 2011. The Liberian-flagged cargo ship has 23 Burmese crewmen aboard. The St.Johns Ship Mangement Company is still paying the crewmen's salary. A spokesman at the Rangoon branch office said the pirates are still in negotiations with the company and stated: 'We hope an agreement will be reached soon. The families of the crewmen are very worried."
The vessel was recently moved towards a location north of Hobyo and a release deal apparently fell through.
Reportedly for the moment any negotiations have broken down and the vessel, which reportedly also serves again as a holding cell for other hostages, as well as the crew are held off Ceel Dhanaane at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia.
After five months in the hands of Somali pirates as hostages, the chances for the release of 23 sailors are still slim as negotiations between a Liberia-registered shipping line and the pirates have stalled, said sources with the Rangoon-based St. Johns Ship Management Company. 'The head office is still negotiating with the pirates. We cannot say when the hostages will be released. Negotiations are still underway', their source stated, but local informers maintain that there is apparently no way forward in the moment. After seven month still nothing tangible seems to develop and meanwhile the lifes of some cargo-owners have been made so miserable that they have to seek aid from their native countries. Piracy is cut-throat "business", but irresponsible shipping companies are by no means less "cut-throat" as the case of one family shows, whose posessisions are on the sea-jacked vessel. While the company compensated a cargo owner already, the helpless family is devastated. The vessel is now held north of Hobyo.
MSV SALIM AMADI : Seized December 15, 2010. The motorized cargo dhow of most likely Indian origin was seized at 10h00 LT (07h00 UTC) some 70nm from Bosaso on her way from Dubai to this harbour town of the regional state of Puntland in Somalia. Most likely involved also in a business dispute. Number of crew and their fate is not yet known.
FV NN IRAN (Reg: 4/2742) : Seized January 14, 2010. The Iranian fishing vessel with the Registration Number 4/2742 and her 16 crew was seized by Somali pirates together with a second Iranian fishing vessel and since then was missing and wanted.
MSV AL MUJAHEER : Seized January, 16, 2011. The Yemeni motorized dhow with none of her original crew on board, was abducted and is used by alleged Somali pirates as piracy launch. The vessel is missing and wanted. MV ORNA : Seized December 20, 2010. The UAE-owned, Panama-flagged bulker MV ORNA (IMO 8312162) was in the morning of 20. December 2010 at 08h29LT (11h29 UTC) reported under attack by pirates in position Latitude: 01°46S Longitude: 060°32E.The bulk carrier was under way to India from Durban and is laden with 26,000 to of coal. NATO reported that the attack was launched from 2 attack skiffs, with pirates firing small arms and rocket propelled grenades at the merchant vessel en route in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 nautical miles North East of the island-state of the Seychelles. The vessel was stopped and boarded by at least 4 pirates. The bulk carrier was then pirated, EU NAVFOR confirmed later and that the number o f crew on board was unknown. The crew is co-operating and no damage is reported, the EU statement reads, which also stated that MV ORNA was not registered with the naval centres of MSCHOA or UKMTO. The MV ORNA is a Panama flagged, UAE owned bulk cargo vessel with a dead weight of 27,915 tonnes.The vessels safety management certificate had been withdrawn by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai already on 14. October this year and the crew is also not covered by an ITF agreement, but unlike other UAE-owned vessels it has still at least an insurance with Sveriges Angfartys Assurans Forening (Swedish Club). Ship manager SWEDISH MANAGEMENT CO SA in Dubai fronts for registered owner SIRAGO SHIPMANAGEMENT SA.There are 19 sailors on board and the crew comprises of one Sri Lankan and 18 Syrians. The owner of Kassab Intershipping-Swedish Management, Capt Abdul Kadar, said that the cargo ship MV Orna was carrying 26,500 tonnes of coal from Durban, South Africa and was enroute to Okha, India, when it was hijacked. The vessel is at present commandeered towards the Somali coast.Capt Kassab said that "the ship was expected to reach the Somali waters by [that] Friday and then only we can start negotiations. Past experiences show that the pirates start negotiations only after reaching their home country's shores."
After arriving at the Somali coast the vessel was held together with the crew first off the coast north of Hobyo, before moving further south towards Ceel Gaan from where it then left the coast.
On 26. May 2011 at 09h08 UTC the pirated vessel was reported to be commandeered in position 06 09N and 050 33E with a course of 072 degrees and a speed of 7kts on another piracy mission. It is assumed that the ship is now being abused as a piracy launch with the crew serving as human shield.
On 27. May 2011 at 08h40 UTC MV ORNA was reported in position 07 09N and 053 20E with course 078 degrees and a speed of 7.5 knots.
On 01. June 2011 at 15h34 UTC the commandeered ship was reported in position 11 37N and 061 17E with course 246 degrees and a speed of 4.4 kts.
On 02. June 2011 at 12h24 UTC MV ORNA was reported in position 11 09N amd 059 57E with course 252 degrees and a speed of 5.6 kts.
On 03. June 2011 at 08h14 UTC the vessel was reported in position 10 55N and 57 48E with course 272 degrees and a speed of 6.0 kts, obviously on her way to the Somali coast.
On 05. June 2011 MV ORNA was observed still to be on that track in position 1017N and 05400E with course 258 degrees and speed 5.8 kts.
On 06 June 2011 at 14h54 UTC pirated ship MV ORNA was reported in position 08 59N and 050 52E with course 256 degrees and 6.6 kts.
On 07. June 2011 at 06h18 UTC the vessel was reported in position 07 49N and 050 04E with course 216 and a speed of 6 kts, sailing towards her former anchorage at the Somali North Eastern Indian Ocean coast.
While then being moored at her anchorage north of Harardheere a small fire of possibly electrical cause was reported to have started on 15. June 2011 allegedly at the kitchen and destroyed some staff quarters. The fire did reportedly not cause harm to any person. Conflicting reports spoke of the crew had been taken on land while others said the crew was taken to another nearby vessel, likewise under captivity. Though local residents saw a plume of smoke coming from the vessel, EU NAVFOR said they had no confirmation. The fire was later extinguished, but allegedly also caused damage to the bridge installations and electronics. Rumours that the vessel had sunk are not correct and according to local observers the vessel is still afloat, but a realease of the crew not in sight.
FV SHIUH FU No. 1 : Seized December 25, 2010. At 10h30 UTC on 25. December 2010, the white hulled fishing vessel Shiuh Fu No.1 - CT7 0256 (ID58582) was reported by NATO as sea-jacked by pirates in position 12°58S - 051°52E around 120nm east of Nosy Ankao, Madagascar. A previously hijacked merchant ship was reported to be in the vicinity during the hijacking of the fishing vessel. It was then at 11h15 UTC observed to act as piracy launch in position 12°58S - 51°51E, while cruising 293° at a speed of 1 knot.
Its original 29 sailor crew consisted of 1 Taiwanese, 14 Vietnamese and 14 Chinese. EU NAVFOR lists only 26 crew. Taiwanese sources stated that the 26 people on board the Kaohsiung-based FV Hsiuh Fu No. 1, consist of the Taiwanese skipper, 12 Chinese and 13 Vietnamese crewmen.
The Republic of China flagged, 700 to long-liner, owned by SHIUH FU FISHERY CO., LTD. of Kaohsiung in Taiwan is apparently licensed by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC NO. 900070256) to fish in these waters.
Further reports state that the vessel, which shows on it's side in large letters BI2256, was commandeered further south and was observed on 26. December 2010 heading 172º with a speed of 10 knots at position 15°23'42.00"S, 52°14'45.60"E. The vessel has a powerful 1,200 HP engine and could, however, run faster, which made it a serious threat concerning possible pirate-attacks against merchant vessels in the area. But the old vessel is also frail and might not withstand prolonged use.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a press release it had launched an emergency mission and instructed Taiwan's representative office in Cape Town, South Africa to seek assistance from the government of Madagascar.
Back then there has been no communication since Dec. 25 with the Shiuh Fu No. 1, said Samuel Chen (陳士良), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of African Affairs.
On 28. December the vessel maintained its strange search- or forestalling-like pattern along Latitude 52 on the North-Eastern side of Madagascar.
But at 03h13 UTC on 29. December 2010, the Pirate Action Group with FV SHIUH FU NO.1 was then reported as going east in position 13 27S - 053 03E with course 102° at speed 9.1 kts.
Vice chief Dao Cong Hai of the Vietnamese Department for Management of Overseas Labor said on January 5 that the 12 Vietnamese workers were enrolled by three manpower exporting firms, named Inmasco, Servico and Van Xuan. All of them are from the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Hai said that the department had instructed the three firms to get in contact with the Taiwanese employer to get information about the Vietnamese sailors and communicate with the victims' families. "This is an unexpected accident. The pirates need money. They need time to evaluate the ship to fix the ransom," Hai said.
Local observers reported on 10. January 2010 that the vessel was moored off Ceel Gaan at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast of Harardheere, but thereafter took off again.
At 10h50 UTC on 14. Jan 2011, SHIUH FU No.1 acting as mothership, was reported in position 12°21N 055°56E, but came back and was then held off Ceel Caduur north of Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast. No proper contact seems to have been maintained between the owner and the captors and the crew is neglected, sick and tired.
End of June 2011 the fishing vessel left again the coast in a mission for the pirates. RFA Fort Victoria spent four days stalking the Shiuh Fu No.1 and the five small skiffs it uses to carry out hijackings, warning merchantmen in the area to stay clear. At the same time a helicopter from the cruiser USS Gettysburg carried out surveillance flights of the pirated vessel. The RFA eventually broke off its shadowing mission and re-joined the Cougar force, led by flagship HMS Albion, while another Allied warship in the region continued to track the Shiuh Fu No.1's movements.
Hijacked vessel SHIUH FU No 1 was last reported by aerial surveillance in position 1021N 05720E, course 205 at 7 kts, on 02 July 2011. She was then tracking towards the Somali coast but was still capable of conducting mothership operations. The vessel is now held off Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia.
Renewed efforts to negotiate a release of vessel and crew are under way and it is hoped that a safe agreement can be reached in order to avert a disaster like it happened with FV JIH CHUN TSAI 68.The gang holding the vessel had announced already since some time that if the vessel owner, who can simply not afford a large ransom, would not come forward, they would take the vessel out to sea again to hunt for better prey, thereby abusing the crew as human shield. The ship was already involved in fivee cases.
The vessel was then refuelled at the beginning of August and on 06. August 2011 it left from Garacad, but only to turn up north of Hobyo. It is assumed that gang were recruiting some fresh men there and went on another piracy mission. MSV AL SHAMSHIR (sword) (aka MSV SAMSIR) : Seized before December 28, 2010. The most likely Iranian flagged dhow was observed near Ceel Gaan at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast from mid January to at least the beginning of April 2011. Sometimes the boat was together with a larger vessel at 0435N 04805E, near where abandoned MV RAK AFRIKANA is now grounded. On 02. May 2011 the Danish Navy with warship HDMS ESBERN SNARE under Dutch orders and NATO command again attacked an earlier pirated vessel with hostages on board.
MSV SHAMSHIR was approached and at first only warning shots were fired by the Danish navy (i.e. first shots were fired by the navy).
Then the pirates used the hostages as human shield and threatened that the hostages would be endangered. The pirates continued to commandeer the vessel towards the coast.
The skiffs and the out-board motors of the skiffs were shot up and disabled by Danish naval sniper fire.
The commandeered dhow proceeded towards the coast and the Danish navy then disengaged.
Allegedly nobody was wounded, naval reports say, but local confirmation could not yet be obtained, because the pirate group and their hostages are in hiding.
MSV AL WA'ALA : Seized on or around 01. January 2011. The Yemeni-flagged dhow was seajacked and immediately used as piracy launch. Around 10. March the vessel had a technical failure in the Arabian Sea and likewise commandeered VLCC IRENE SL went out to help. Some Somali pirates and 3 Yemeni crew were taken aboard the large oil carrier. The 3 Yemeni men were then exchanged with a navy vessel in a deal to return the body of a Somali pirate from VLCC IRENE SL, who had been seriously wounded earlier, was then handed to a naval ship, but died on the operation table. At the moment it is not known whether any pirates or crew stayed on AL WA' ALA and what her current status is.
The vessel is wanted.
MV BLIDA : Seized January 01, 2010. At 15h36 UTC (12h36 LT) of New Year's day, the bulk carrier MV BLIDA (IMO 7705635) was attacked by an armed Pirate Action Group of four men in one skiff, which had been launched from earlier pirated MV HANNIBAL II at position Latitude: 15 28N Longitude: 055 51E. The location is approximately 150 nautical miles South East of the port of Salalah, Oman. EU NAVFOR and NATO confirmed the sea-jacking.
The 20,586 tonne Bulk Carrier is Algerian flagged and owned. The vessel was on her way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from Salalah in Oman at the time of the attack.
The bulker has a multinational crew of 27 seafarers (17 Algerian, 6 Ukrainian - incl. captain-, 2 Filipinos, 1 Indonesian and 1 Jordanian).
The official version is that the vessel is carrying a 24,000 tonnes cargo of Clinker.
MV BLIDA was registered for protection with MSC(HOA) but had not reported to UKMTO, EU NAVFOR stated, but did not explain why the vessel was not protected - especially because the vessel used as pirate-launch - MV HANNIBAL II - was reported earlier by NATO to be in the area.
Ship manager of MV BLIDA is SEKUR HOLDINGS INC of Piraeus, Greece and registered owner is INTERNATIONAL BULK CARRIER of Algeria.
The manager could for the first time on 05. January contact the Ukrainian captain who said the 27-member crew is safe, the Ukrainian foreign ministry in Kiev said. The captain of the Blida bulk carrier told the Greek manager that "no crew member had been injured" during the attack last Saturday and that the sailors were in "satisfactory" condition.
Shipping in Algeria is a government monopoly run by the Algerian state, the National Corporation for Maritime Transport and the Algerian National Navigation Company (Société Nationale de Transports Maritimes et Compagnie Nationale Algérienne de Navigation--SNTM-CNAN).
Earlier on 05. January, shipcharterer IBC said it had received no ransom demand from the unidentified pirates who seized the vessel.
"I don't know who will pay, but I repeat that we have not received such a demand," Nasseredine Mansouri, head of International Bulk Carriers (IBC), an Algerian-Saudi company specialising in maritime cargo transport, told AFP.
Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz said on 06. January his country would not pay a ransom. Belaiz said in a statement to the press that Algeria was the first country to have "called, before the UN general assembly, for the payment of ransom to criminals and kidnappers to become a criminal act". Paying ransom encourages criminals and finances terrorism, he said. "Algeria does not pay ransom," he said adding that the kidnapped crew had been able to contact their families by telephone.
The vessel had arrived in Somalia and was moored off Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia as marine observers reported, but then left for a piracy spree and was observed on 22. January 2011 in position Latitude: 09 54N Longitude: 052 56E with course 049 degrees and speed 8.6 kts conducting mother-ship operations.
The Somali pirates were urged to let the vessel go in solidarity with the people of Algeria, but still the vessel and crew are held at Ceel Caduur north of Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast, while negotiations have not really been forthcoming.
Algeria has now launched a formal appeal for the release of all hostages held in Africa, including the Algerians captured by Somali pirates early this year, according to Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.
When asked about the 17 Algerian sailors captured aboard the MV Blida in January, Medelci said that they were in "good condition".
"The Algerian authorities are monitoring the situation and are in regular contact with them through ship owner International Bulk Carriers (IBC), who are negotiating their release," he said.
Toudji Azzedine, from the city of Dellys in Boumerdes province, was among the detained sailors. According to his family, the last communication they had with him was on May 24th. They were told that the crew were in dire conditions.
The water (being fed) is dirty, the food rancid," said Abdelkader Achour, whose brother is among the 27 captives. "We ask the Algerian authorities to intervene to speed up their release," he added. The appeal launched by Medelci came two days after the families of the hostages assembled in front of the IBC headquarters to denounce the authorities' silence regarding the sailors' fate and to demand President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intervention to save their lives.
The 80-year-old mother of Ismail Kehli, from Algiers, was among the participants. After hearing about her son's abduction, she suffered from paraplegia and was hospitalised.
"What does the minister want from this appeal?" she wondered. "Does he want to say that Algeria will not pay ransom to save the sailors and they will remain there for many years?"
In June 2011 sailor Moundeer Abdul-Rahmango called on Algerian authorities to do more to pave the way for the seamen's release, saying the 17 have been facing heavy-handed and unyielding practices from Somali pirates. He made his appeal during a phone call with his family back home and said he and others hope they will be rescued before the holy Muslim month of Ramadhan, starting in August.
Relatives of 17 Algerian sailors held by pirates since January then demonstrated at the beginning of Ramadhan to demand their release, saying they feared the men would not survive Somalia's famine and the Ramadhan fast.
"Seventeen Algerian sailors spend the month of Ramadhan in Somalia, the country of famine," said a banner at a sit-in by about 30 relatives of the Algerians in central Algiers. "When we last spoke with them by telephone, on July 9, they told us that they would do the fast whatever the conditions of their detention," the brother of one of the captives, Abdelkader Achour, told AFP.
"With their being fed, when they are, with pasta and dirty water, I fear that they will return them to us in coffins," he said, also referring to temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). The government says it is "fully mobilised" and following the matter closely. Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz said in January that Algeria will not pay ransom, saying it encourages criminals and finances terrorism. This speech apparently angered the pirate gang and the crew is reportedly in bad condition, while negotiations have not yet concluded. The MV BLIDA and her crew are at present held off the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia between Garacad and Ceel Dhanaane, while the pirates still demand a multi-million dollar ransom for the release.
MSV AL MUSA : Seized January 09, 2011. The Indian merchant dhow was hijacked along with her 14 Indian crew on or about the 9th of January 2011 while under way off Oman. The dhow was abducted along with her 14 Indian crew on or about the 9th of January 2011 while under way from Dubai to Salalah around 50nm off the coast of Oman. The vessel is carrying assorted food-stuff and was commandeered to Somalia. The vessel is missing and wanted. CREW OF MV LEOPARD : Seized January 12, 2011. The six men crew (2 Danes and 4 Filipinos) was snatched from 1,780-dwt weapons transporter MV Leopard. The MV LEOPARD (IMO 8902096) is owned by a small company named "SHIPCRAFT", which is specialized to haul dangerous, military and nuclear cargoes, the Maritime Bulletin says. The Leopard is known to be carrying what various informed sources have described as a "sensitive" cargo which is believed to include weapons. Although ships operated by Shipcraft, the Leopard's Danish operator, routinely carry nuclear items, this vessel is not believed to have any on board. Some analysts said it could have been possible that the ship had been disabled by its crew before they hid in the citadel and the Somalis may also have felt that the high-profile nature of the cargo could also have posed a heightened risk of naval or military intervention, but sources from Somalia believe that the real danger concerning the cargo sensed by the Somalis was the reason to abandon the vessel. It is unknown if the pirates have touched any of the cargo while the welfare of the crew is also not known. Representatives from ShipCraft have steadfastly refused to comment on the issue when contacted by TradeWinds on several occasions on Wednesday and Thursday. The company deactivated its website on Thursday morning as reports began to filter through that the ship was carrying a potentially dangerous cargo and it remains "under construction". Since unprotected, also MV FAINA - a Ukrainian weapons-carrier with battle tanks for Southern Sudan was intercepted by Somali pirates, but in this case held for 144 days with a major diplomatic row evolving concerning the final destination of the weapons, since they had no permits for Sudan. "We do not know where the crew is and we are concentrating on locating them and bringing them home to safety," Shipcraft chief executive Claus Bech said in a statement. He confirmed a report late Thursday that the pirates had taken the six crew members -- two Danes including the captain, and four Filipinos -- and abandoned the 1,780-dwt cargo vessel MV Leopard (built 1989). He did not reveal if the kidnappers had demanded a ransom. Registered shipowner is LODESTAR SHIPHOLDING LTD of Horsholm, Denmark, who has as ISM manager NORDANE SHIPPING A/S. A search onboard the boat Thursday by Turkish soldiers, who are part of an international NATO-led force in the Gulf of Aden, turned up "neither pirates nor crew members," Bech said. The shipping company last had contact with The Leopard crew on Wednesday at 1300 GMT, when the captain sent a distress signal indicating that the cargo ship had been "attacked by pirates who were boarding from two speed boats," the statement said. After receiving the alert, NATO sent the Turkish warship Gaziantep to the scene, a spokesman for the alliance's anti-piracy mission, Jacqui Sheriff, told the Politiken daily's website. Shipcraft, which has not provided information on what the cargo ship had been carrying, is known as a specialist in shipping explosives and ammunition, the paper reported, adding that The Leopard was transporting weapons. All the company's ships have traveled in the area with armed guards since pirates attempted to capture another of its cargo ships, The Puma, in mid-2009.However, Politiken.dk reported that The Leopard had let off its armed guards at the Oman port of Salalah before sailing into a zone considered "safe" where it was attacked. The crew of MV LEOPARD is not covered by an ITF agreement.According to TradeWinds and in what represents a major departure from Somali pirates' usual modus operandi, the six seafarers have been snatched and moved to a seized Taiwanese fishing vessel which is operating as a mother-ship. British sailing couple Paul and Rachel Chandler who had their yacht Lynn Rival hijacked in October 2009 before they were moved to the seized 1,550-teu container vessel Kota Wajar. From there they were taken ashore and held hostage for over a year and only freed last November. The only other such "off-takes", apart from the Chandlers, were the kidnapping of Juergen Kantner and his partner from their sailing yacht S/Y ROCKALL on 23. June 2008, the kidnapping of Deborah Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari from S/Y CHOIZIL on 26. October 2010 and the snatching of Sri Lankan fishermen Mr. Lal Fernando and Mr. Sugath Fernando from FV LAKMALI on November 30, 2010. However, recent information reaching our marine monitors in Somalia also say that three women (one Tanzania and two Comorian) had been transferred from the vessel on which they where kidnapped - the MV ALY ZOULFECAR. They were, however, later transferred back.. The most likely explanation, why the pirates left the arms-ship, is that the crew managed to flee into the strong-room and disabled the engines. The time to then get to the crew left little time to get the engines working again before a warship would have arrived. The pirates therefore decided to leave the huge amount of ammunition, rockets and missiles, which the vessel was transporting as deliveries from three European countries to states in Asia, because this loot would not be of immediate benefit to the Somali warlords and most likely would have triggered a serious naval response to block the vessel and its goods from reaching the Somali coast. The mastermind then must have decided to order the gang to just kidnapp the crew and disappear on the waiting fishing vessel. Allegedly the Somalis holding the 6 men crew have already offered a deal to exchange them. The Danish shipping company said it was searching for the six crew members, while reports from Hobyo say that 4 Somalis including one dead had been delivered by a naval Helicopter to Hobyo. The Filipinos of the Leopard crew are apparently still held there. The two Danes were then held separately from the Filipinos on a vessel off Hobyo together with the two Spaniards. While the Spaniards were freed against a massive ransom from MT SAVINA CAYLYN, the 2 Danes were then held on another vessel north of Hobyo before they were put on land where they are held now together with the other 4 Pinoy crew members.
According to the Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet, the company SHIPCRAFT had allegedly more or less given up on negotiations since around March. For that reason, the Danish Ship Officer's Union had turned the owners of the company in to the police for negligence and they were even criticized by their own organization, Rederiforeningen af 2010, an organization for smaller shipowners in Denmark. It also should be noted that besides the two Danes also four Filipino seamen are held hostage in this case, for whom not many have spoken out - especially not from their government. Meanwhile the hostages are said to be held south-west of Hobyo.
Reports from the ground in Somalia at the beginning of July 2011 indicated that an agreement seemed to have been reached and a release could have been near, but on 08. July 2011 it was then reported that a disagreement between the members of the pirate group, which hail from one sub-clan, has let to a serious setback. The two Danes are now held separately at different locations on land south of Hobyo and according to local marine observers, who spoke with elders close to the scene, appear to have become desperate and sick.
This was confirmed when two videos showing mainly the pleading of the two Danish hostages and one Filipino was was pushed onto the internet. Seriously traumatized the hostages pleaded obviously under duress with the shipowner to get them out and urged their government to oversee that the shipowner gets them free fast, because their health is seriously deteriorating and they fear to be killed.
The captain stated (had to state?) that the shipowner contacted them However, Claus Bech of Shipcraft stated that the company "has since January - and with the advice from renowned security advisers and in close consultation with all relevant parties, amongst others the appropriate authorities - been negotiating for the fastest possible release".
He acknowledged the grave situation by stating: "Our colleagues are under unbelievable pressure, mentally as well as physically," and ensured "that we are doing our very utmost to get our valued colleagues back home from the cruel captivity as soon as possible."
The Captain confirmed that they carried military equipment from Germany, Montenegro, Sweden France and England for Mumbai, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and finally Busan in South Korea. The Chief Mate stated that especially he himself, but also others in the crew, have serious health problems and are afraid to die. He confirmed that the crew was first held hostage on another vessel but then, since about three month, were kept hidden away in the bush of the coastal hinterland. MV HOANG SON SUN : Seized January 20, 2010. The vessel MV HOANG SON HUN (IMO 8323862) was seized by pirates, who came onboard shooting at 12h42 UTC in position Latitude: 15°11N Longitude: 059°38, which is approximately 520 nautical miles South East of the port of Muscat, Oman. The 22,835-tonne Bulk carrier is Mongolian flagged and Vietnamese owned, has a crew of 24 Vietnamese nationals and is carrying 21,000 tons of iron ore. MV HOANG SON SUN was not registered with MSC(HOA) and had not reported to UKMTO.Owner and manager of the Vietnamese vessel is HOANG SON CO LTD from Thanh Hoa City, Vietnam, who insured it with West of England Shipowners. Unfortunately for the seafarers it has no ITF agreement. Nguyen Bien Cuong, head of the Hoang Son Co's maritime security department, said the last time his firm had heard from the Vietnamese crew of the cargo ship was Tuesday. However, according to the ship-owner (Hoang Son Company in Thanh Hoa province), the captured ship captain Dinh Tat Thang somehow managed to clandestinely send an email saying that all sailors are in safe condition and the merchantship has been moved to a Somalia port. Apart from that, Hoang Son Company has not received any other information, Vietnamese media reported. Bui Viet Tung, son of chief mechanic Bui Thai Hung, one of hostages, is angry that the company has not made any contact with the pirates.
"If Hoang Son Company is not committed to the case, our family will go to Hai Phong northern city to seek more information on my father's situation".
On the same day, Hoang Son – deputy director of Hoang Son – told Tuoi Tre the company is working with a UK-based firm specialized in negotiating all things related to hostage and pirates to rescue the victims.
"The ransom is estimated to hit US$5 million," Hoang Son added and stated that the vessel itself is insured against hijackers by the Vietnam Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, but that the staff and goods on the ship have no insurance. "If pirates ask for a huge ransom, there's no way the company can afford it," Son said and added: "We need the support of the state and our insurer."
Based on this analysts believe that the case will take at least three month, because the British companies are known to take their time, because they are paid for it.
Crew and vessel were first held off Hobyo and then the vessel was moored off Ceel Dhanaane at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast. Negotiations seem to have become difficult, which is why the captors decided mid July to take the vessel out to sea again. NATO, however, does at present not assess the vessel to be used as piracy launch.
On 28. July 2011 a report sent by a human rights monitor on routine proof of life mission, spoke of now only 22 crew members. It is so far not knows if the 2 missing seamen died or if they could abscond.MT SAVINA CAYLYN: Seized February 08, 2011. At 04h27 UTC (07h27 local time) Somali pirates sea-jacked the huge Italian crude oil tanker MT SAVINA CAYLYN (IMO 9489285) with 22 crew members in the Indian Ocean en route from the Bashayer oil terminal in Sudan to the port of Pasir Gudang in Malaysia. The attack took place in position Latitude: 12°10N Longitude: 066°00E on the Indian Ocean, which is 673 nm straight east from Socotra Island at the tip of the Horn of Africa and around 360 nm west of the Indian Lakshadweep Islands. The ship is carrying a load of crude oil for ARCADIA, a commodities trading company. Though Italian newspapers first published the tanker had escaped, European Union Naval Force Somalia spokesman Paddy O'Kennedy confirmed later the Italian flagged and owned MT SAVINA CAYLYN was hijacked. "The vessel was boarded after a sustained attack by one skiff with five suspected pirates firing small arms and four rocket propelled grenades," O'Kennedy said and added: "There is presently no communication with the vessel and no information regarding the condition of the crew of 22 - 5 Italians and 17 Indians." The 104,255 dwt MT SAVINA CAYLYN had registered with the Maritime Security Centre - Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) and was reporting to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The Aframax of Chinese make was built in 2008 at the Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding shipyard and is insured through Standard P&I Club per Charles Taylor & Co., but so far no information concerning an ITF agreement for the crew was found. Registered owner is DOLPHIN TANKER SRL for managers FRATELLI D'AMATO SPA , Naples NA, Italy. Fratelli D'Amato Spa is fully owned by Luigi D'Amato, who is also the sole administrator. Dolphin Tanker s.r.l. is a 50% joint venture between Scerni Group and Fratelli D'Amato S.p.a., and a joint venture between Luigi D'Amato, president of Fratelli D'Amato International Group, and Paolo Scerni, president of Scerni Group - which presently owns 6 tankers. The joint venture might come to an end by mutual consent and banks which granted credit lines for their ships in the past years – i.e., Milan-based Centrobanca, Genoa-based Banca Carige, and Deutsche Bank AG – have been informed of the ongoing restructuring, necessary in order to preserve the earnings from a pool of ships which made last year a 4 million Euros profit. So far Il Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labor) Luigi D'Amato serves as the President.Italian Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro of the Italian coast guard said the coast guard was alerted by a satellite alarm system about the attack. All Italian ships that register with the coast guard's operations center in Rome have such an alarm system. "There was an exchange of fire between the pirates and crew," Nicastro said and it was observed that the 266 metre long ship slowed down almost to a standstill before it then sped up again and resumed its course, leading the coast guard to think the pirates had climbed on board and are now in command.Where the pirates instructed to wait for this vessel, like it was the case in other sea-jackings - for instance the weapons-transporting Ro-Ro FAINA or now admittedly the MV SAMHO JEWELRY case? Initial reports then said no-one was hurt in the attack and Commander Pio Schiano, from the Fratelli D'Amato shipping company in Naples, told a local television channel that he had been in communication with the tanker, stating that the crew were well but no ransom demands had been made. Italy's foreign ministry released a statement following the attack to announce that a task force had been set up to monitor the situation along with the ministry of defence. The vessel was then commandeered towards Somalia, while the Italian Navy frigate ZEFFORO, which was some 500 miles away, was heading to the area too.
The 266-m long and 46-m wide vessel was expected in Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean Coast, when satellite imagery showed it early morning on 10. February still about 330 km off the Somalia coast.
Vessel and crew have meanwhile arrived on 12. February off Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast and negotiations are reportedly under way. However the vessel and crew had then been transferred further south to the Harardheere district coast, where the vessel was held off Ceel Gaan and now has been moved to Hobyo.
Two Spaniards, hijacked earlier from VEGA 5 were at the end of their ordeal held hostage on this vessel until their release against a multi-million dollar ransom. The vessel is still moored off Hobyo, while the crew is awaiting progress and conclusion in the negotiations for their own release.
FV AL-FARDOUS (aka FV ALFARDOUS) : Seized February, 12. 2011. The vessel was captured near the disputed islands of Socotra, which are located on the continental shelf of Somalia at the very tip of the Horn of Africa, but were handed to Yemen located across the Gulf of Aden. The crew is consists of eight sailors.
Fishing rights in this fish-rich zone off the coast of Somalia have been leading to disputes since many decades.
European Union's naval mission Atalanta of EU NAVFOR confirmed the capture now in a welcomed move to not only focus their attention on abducted large merchant ships. The vessel is missing and wanted.
7 Crew of SY ING : Seized February 24, 2011. "A Danish yacht was captured by pirates, the Danish foreign ministry confirmed and stated this publicly only on 28. February 2010. The confirmation actually came 4 days after the actual attack and seajacking on 24. February 2011 of the Denmark-flagged sailing boat SY ING, which is why we could release the alert only that day, since it always has also to be ensured that the next of kin are informed first. According to our information the attack happened in position 14N and 58E, which is around 210 nm from Socotra Island (Yemen), 300 nm from Salalah (Oman) and around 480 nm off the nearest Somali coast at the very tip of the Horn of Africa. (1nm = 1.852 kilometres) The yacht sent a distress signal just before the boat was boarded and two days after the murder 4 Americans on the SY QUEST. The signal was received, but the authorities decided to not let the attack be widely known, a fact, which was later criticized by many cruising sailors, who demand the full information from the naval control centres and other authorities in order to avoid specific danger spots. Denmark's Intelligence agency PET had asked all relatives of the hostages to keep the incident secret, while it is now believed that the information was only confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign affairs at a moment when the hostages were already taken on land.
The 43-foot yacht S/Y ING and her crew of 7 was captured in the Southern Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean en route from the Makunudhoo atoll in the Maldives, from where they had left on 11. February 2011, via Uligan on the 19. February en route to the Red Sea.
S/Y ING and the crew had reported their cruise earlier to UKMTO, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations based in the UAE, which listed itself as primary report and emergency contact. UKMTO had received every day a report with heading and status of the yacht, which at one point even was overflown by a surveillance aircraft.
The sailing yacht S/Y ING with her little over 13m length and 7 tonnes, is a small sloop which features one mast and two sails, a normal mainsail and a jib. The model of this sloop is a Dynamic 43, designed in Norway, and has an not too powerful diesel inboard motor. But it is a fast and well sailing boat, perfect for 2 or 3 couples or a family of up to seven members.
Four adults and three children aged 12, 15 and 17 were a happy crew together, but are now kept hostage. The parents, Skipper Jan Quist Johansen, his wife, Birgit Marie Johansen, their sons, Rune (17) and Hjalte (15), and daughter Naja (13), as well as their two crew employees are all of Danish nationality. The family hails from Kalundborg, west of Copenhagen, Denmark. Also the families of the deckhands have been informed.
A duty officer at the Danish marine command headquarters, SOK, told AFP: "SOK received an SOS from the sailboat and began searching for the whereabouts of the ship and determine what has happened to the crew."
Why the Danish government and the navies failed for four days to alert other cruising sailors in the area about the incident is not known. The naval forces deployed to the area have so far not agreed to escort cruising sailors in convoys through the dangerous Gulf of Aden passage or while having to pass the Arabian Sea, where several incidences happened during the last month, including the pirating of SY QUEST with four American hostages, who were all killed in botched negotiations and despite a failed rescue attempt..
The yacht was then commandeered towards Somalia, where still also two other Danes from weapons-ship MV LEOPARD are held hostage by a Somali pirate gang.
Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said: "It is almost unbearable to think that there are children involved and I can only sharply denounce the pirates' actions" and added: "Government officials will do everything in our power to help the Danes."
While the Danish government said the Danish warship 'Esbern Snare' was dispatched for the area, the navies this time did not make the same mistakes as in the cases of SY TANIT and SY QUEST.Observers from Puntland first reported that the sailing boat was expected at the North-Eastern Puntland coast near Ceel Dhanaane on the Indian Ocean, which would have been around 660 nm (1,220km) from the point where it was attacked - at the same location where SY QUEST was supposed to make landfall before she was pushed by four U.S. naval vessels further into the Gulf of Aden, where the four American sailors and four Somali hostage takers found their tragic end.
But the sailing yacht, which was driven apparently by only three hostage takers on board full throttle towards the Somali coast, ran out of fuel.
MV EMS RIVER a likewise sea-jacked merchant vessel, just before she was released since the ransom already had been delivered, had already been dispatched by the pirates' gang leader to provide cover services against a possible naval attack and then did provide the necessary fuel and towing to reach at least a spot around 38nm north of Bandar Beyla at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast, which is called by the locals Hull (Xull), a tiny seasonal fishing camp.
From there local observers reported the group of hostages were taken around 20 km inland to a location called Hul Anod (Xuul Canood).
"On behalf of the Puntland state of Somalia, I want to say that we are very sad about the situation," said Ahmed. "In order to save these people, let us wait. Any action, including military action and we have seen what happened to the American couple a couple of days ago, we don't want that to happen again. ... Let us wait, let us wait, please," Gen. Abdirizak Ahmed, who heads the anti-piracy program in Puntland, Somalia's semiautonomous northern region, where most pirates are based, told the media. He just had returned from attending a two-day workshop in Denmark this week on the legal aspects of prosecuting pirates.
Later Wednesday, the Danish government said it had established contact with the pirates and their hostages.
"They are doing well under the circumstances," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, which only stated further that a professional security firm was handling negotiations with the pirates, which hopefully will also bring to an end the many false stories peddled by Somali brokers, who in each of these cases offer their services. The four adults and three children are now kept hostage on land, which was also confirmed by several of those Puntland elders, who are outraged about the case and want to try to achieve a release without conditions. The family hails from Kalundborg, west of Copenhagen, Denmark, where already popular outrage about the heinous crime as well as great support for the families of the hostages was expressed.
A military attempt to encircle Xuul Canood (Hul Anod) village was staged by Puntland forces on 10. March 2011. The militia which had come out of training - implemented by disputed mercenary company Saracen International and meanwhile banned from operating in Somalia - created havoc and senseless killing as predicted earlier. Ten Puntland soldiers, three alleged pirates, who had received reinforcement of about 200 men, and one civilian - a herder - were reportedly killed in the skirmish, while it is not even sure that the hostages had been at the village at that time. While it is sure that the operation was ordered by Puntland president Farole, using none of the men of his sub-clan, who are said to also be among the pirates, it was not yet confirmed that the Danish government paid for the ill-advised operation. Though a Danish newspaper stated that the seven Danes had been taken back onto their yacht, local observers stated that the family and the two deckhands had been split at the time of the attack into four groups held at different locations.
On 13. March the security minister of Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland Yousuf Ahmed Keyr blamed the international anti piracy forces operating in the Somali coastal waters for not helping to free the Danish family who are still in the hands of the pirates. He refused that ransom money would be paid to free the Danish captives.
"The government will not accept any ransom to be given. Now our forces are sourrounding the area", Yousuf said in his speech, acknowledging that six Puntland soldiers had been killed and five wounded in a recent, botched attempt to free the hostages.
Ahmed Ugas, a Somali parliamentarian, who lived for many years in Demark urged all sides to excercise restraint and warned of a disaster like in the case of SY QUEST, if a rescue by force would be staged again.
Observers believed already back then that some of the Danes were after the attack brought on board of sea-jacked MV DOVER, which was floating off Bandar Beyla.
A group of Danish negotiators has held discussions with the local authorities in Puntland to secure the release of the secure Danish hostages.
Local elders, who demand the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages - among them three children - have so far made only slow progress and their efforts were interrupted by the interference of Puntland forces.
"It is our responsibility to show the international community that we are not happy with what our young boys are doing in holding innocent children and their elderly parents hostages on our soil," the mayor of Bendar Beyla, Said Adan Ali, stated to the media.
Sources close to the elders of the gang holding the Danish hostages from the sailing yacht SY ING reported that the present negotiations between a Danish delegation in Bosasso and the hostage takers are bound to fail.
According to three separate sources the fact that the Danish delegation operates from Bosaaso in close co-operation with the Puntland government, while the armed forces of that administration had already once attacked the gang unsuccessfully and despite the botched attempt and international as well as local warnings again threatened to attack the hostage takers and their supporters in the near future with armed forces, makes it impossible for the hostage takers to trust the Danish negotiation team.
The Danish team had apparently contact with the hostage takers and according to the Danish Foreign Ministry also spoke to some hostages, but could so far not achieve their release.
A famous Somali Nabadon (peacemaker) who had started to negotiate the unconditional release of the hostages continues with his efforts, though many false rumours about the alleged wealth or the whereabouts of the hostages as well as an imminent attack by governmental forces drive all sides crazy. All the hostages were then held on sea-jacked MV DOVER, while SY ING is kept at the coast near Hurdiyo.
Analysts fear that the arrest by security forces from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region of four men allegedly belonging to the group holding the seven Danes hostage will complicate matters.
Shocking news, though they were locally not confirmed, were spread in a BBC Radio 4 report by Tom Mangold, broadcast mid April 2011, in which the veteran reporter repeated the story that the thugs had offered to release the family if their 13-year-old daughter was allowed to marry a pirate chief.
Reports from local elders revealed that the situation is tense, because the Danish navy had attacked several pirated vessels over the last four weeks and created havoc along the coasts, though it brought little success. It is obvious that the health situation of the captives has deteriorated seriously and analyst see the present negotiations - said to be conducted by an inexperienced security company - as rather sluggish.
Medical conditions - physical as well as mental - in hostage crews held off Somalia deteriorate at around month three seriously and prosecutors should begin to file cases of torture and attempted homicide in addition to piracy and kidnapping charges in all cases lasting longer.
Recent statements by website reporting about Somalia turned out to be false altogether and the 7 Danes are still kept hostage on MV DOVER. Local observers, however, reported that the pirates groups hold the Danes and the merchant vessel have been pressured again by local elders to end the hostage crisis. This time the pirates appeared to listen. But then on 22. July 2011 the pirated tanker MT JUBBA XX was attacked off Bargaal and MV Dover left the scene to avert a confrontation with the hostages on board and the SY ING in tow.
An offically not yet confirmed report on 23. July 2011 then revealed that the towing cable in rough sea had snapped in position 11''43'7 N and 051''25'2 E and that the yacht was drifting northwards and had not being recovered by the pirates. The Danish hostage family of five and their two crew members are still on board of MV DOVER which since 27. July 2011 is again moored off Bargaal. Reportedly the Danish negotiator and the pirate leader have not reached an agreement yet. MV DOVER : Seized February 28, 2011. At 06h06 UTC (09h06 LT) on 28 February, the Bulk Cargo Carrier MV DOVER (IMO 7433634) was pirated in position Latitude: 18°48N Longitude: 058°52E - approximately 260 nautical miles North East of Salalah in the Northern Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean. NATO and EU NAVFOR confirmed the seajacking.
The Panama-flagged, Greek owned bulker was en route from Port Quasim (Pakistan) to Saleef (Yemen), allegedly fully laden with wheat.
The 38,097 dwt MV DOVER has a crew of 23 (1 Russian, 3 Romanian and 19 Filipinos).
The MV DOVER was registered with MSC(HOA), and was reporting to UKMTO.
WORLDWIDE SHIPMANAGEMENT SA serves as shipmanager for registered owner DOVER NAVIGATION SA, sporting WORLDWIDE SHIPMANAGEMENT SA as ISM manager - all of Piraeus, Greece. The vessel has a valid safety certification, issued by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, but crew is not covered by an ITF agreement.
The Pirate action group with their launch vessel was still in the attack area, while the bulker was then commandeered towards Somalia and expected at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Initially there was no communication with the vessel.The condition of the crew is said to be unharmed and so far all right, given the circumstances. However, it is was reported that also the Danish yacht-sailing hostages are held on this vessel, which makes negotiations for the MV DOVER in the moment obsolete.
The vessel is now held, partly drifting (or intentionally changing positions), off the area between Bandar Beyla and Bargaal. At present MV DOVER is close to Hurdiyo, where also the sailing yacht SY ING is held.
Allegedly the specific group of hostage takers, which kidnapped the Danes, has paid out the original captors of MV DOVER and is now in charge of both cases. However, the guards assigned to the two different targets sometimes even have shoot-outs among themselves. The vessel is from time to time moved between Hurdiyo and Ras Binna. Negotiations are ongoing and ransom demands have been lowered. Allegedly another attempt to free the vessel by delivering a ransom was made on 25. June 2011 according to a website reporting on Somalia, but unfortunately also that second report was false and also the Danish hostages are still on board of that vessel. A new round of negotiations to free MV DOVER and her crew, however, appears to have some prospect.
On 22. July the vessel went off from the shore of Bargaal to evade an attack by the Puntland forces on MV JUBBA XX and did reach up to near Hawo and Alula, but returned five days later without the SY ING, which was earlier in tow when the vessel left. At the end of July the MV DOVER is still moored off Bargaal with the Danish hostages on board. An agreement on the release of the merchant ship appears to have been reached, but concerning the Danish hostages on board such has not yet been achieved and therefore also hinders the release of MV Dover.
MSV ABU AL FADL (aka JELBUT 33): Seized on or around March 10, 2011. The dhow was captured by presumed Somali pirates and abused in a failed attack on a merchant vessel. The boat was then trailed by the Australian navy, which in the course also encountered another pirated dhow MSV AL SHAHAR 75, which they subsequently liberated and let sail free. The present status of MSV ABU AL FADL is not clear and further reports are awaited. The navies call this dhow JELBUT 33 and had two attack skiffs on board. Last known position at 08h43 UTC on 08. May 2011 in position 12 06N and 059 28E with course 035 at 8 knots. The vessel and crew ar now held at anchor off Ceel Dhanaane.
MSV QUBAIS : Seized March 17, 2011. The vessel was captured in position 080555N and 05111E (off Eyl). The vessel is missing and wanted.
MSV AL KHALIL (aka AL-KHALEEL) : Seized March 24, 2011. The Iran-flagged motorized dhow was captured 500Nm E of Minicoy islands. The pirates were operating from sea-jacked Iranian FV MORTEZA, which itself had been pirated earlier on 28. January 2011 off Mauritius and was then sunk on 27. March 2011 by the Indian Navy. Further details concerning the number of crew etc. are awaited. The vessel was commandeered towards Somalia, is missing and wanted.
FV NN IRAN : REGISTRATION NO.: 4/4039 : Seized April 06, 2011. The Iranian owned and Iran-flagged fishing vessel with a crew of 13 is assumed to have been pirated. Vessel and crew are missing and wanted.
MV ROSALIA D'AMATO : Seized April 21, 2011. At 02h05 UTC on 21. April 2011 the Italy-flagged Bulk Carrier MV ROSALIA D'AMATO (IMO 9225201) was boarded in position 13 17N and 05906E, which is approximately 350 nm South East of Salalah, Oman, in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean, by presumed Somali pirates who had attacked the vessel - according to NATO, who confirmed the sea-jacking,with one dhow and two skiffs.
However, it was found that the pirated fishing vessel FV JIH CHUN TSAI 68 (certainly not a dhow) was involved.
The 74,500 tonne Italian flagged and owned vessel was en route from Paranagua (Brazil) to Bandar Imam Khomeini (Iran) when it was attacked at first only by a single skiff, but then seconded by the others.
According to EU NAVFOR,coalition warships had communications with the vessel and were told: 'pirates onboard stay away'.
EU Naval Force Somalia spokesman Paddy O'Kennedy confirmed that the MV Rosalia D'Amato was registered with the Maritime Security Centre-Horn of Africa MSC (HOA) and was reporting to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The MV ROSALIA D'AMATO has a crew of 21 (6 Italians, 15 Filipinos). The 6 Italians, two are from Sicily, including the commander Orazio Lanza, two from Ischia, one from Vico Equense, and the first officer is native from Meta di Sorrento but lives in Belgium.
Owner and manager of the vessel is listed as PERSEVERANZA SHIPPING SRL of Naples, Italy.The bulk carrier is part-owned by Sen. Angelo D'Amato, owner of "Perseverance Navigation" and the nephew of the owner of "Brothers D'Amato. The company Perseveranza SpA is a Company owned by Giuseppe D'Amato and he is now the leader of a family of shipowners that since four generations is known in the world shipping community. Giuseppe D'Amato is unanimously recognized as one of the most prestigious entrepreneurs in the Italian shipowners community. He has been Vice President of Confitarma, the Italian Shipowners Association, for six years; he has been Board Member of the Banca di Credito Popolare di Torre del Greco, the biggest independent regional bank in Southern Italy; he has been Board Member of UMS Generali Marine SpA, the biggest Italian Insurance Company specialised in Maritime Hull and Machinery Risks, that today is a branch of Assicurazioni Generali for transportation; he has just been awarded an honorary degree in Shipping Business at the "Università Parthenope" in Naples.
Operated in a tough commercial sector, all the owned vessels of the shipping company are time chartered for long periods to important Italian and International Groups like Cosco , Armada Group , Cargill , North China Shipping, and others primary operators. The ISM manager for the MV ROSALIA D'AMATO is SHIPS SURVEYS & SERVICES SRL - likewise of Naples.
The bulker has a valid safety management certificate and is insured by Standard P&I Club per Charles Taylor & Co., but if the crew is covered by a valid ITF agreement could not be established.
According to media wires, the pirates fired on the 225-metre (738-foot) Panamax-type vessel during the assault but no one was injured and the captain and crew "are in good condition", said Carlo Miccio from the Naples-based company Perseveranza.
"The captain told me everything is okay, relatively speaking," he said. "He was trying to give me more information but the pirates understood what he was doing and they cut the line," he added. Miccio said that tracking equipment showed the ship, which was sailing from Brazil with a cargo of soy-beans, was "almost stationary".
However, other Italian sources stated that two small boats had approached with the pirates and the boarding was done without firing and with no bad consequences for the crew.
While the vessel was commandeered towards Somalia, with pirate-launch FV JIH CHUN TSAI 68 tethered to it, which in turn pulled two small skiffs, the U.S.American navy with the U.S.American warship, the USS Stephen W. Groveson, attacked the convoy, but could only destroy the two skiffs in the ill-advised and botched operation, which endangered all the hostages seriously. Luckily no casualties were reported in this incident. But in a second encounter between the same warship and the Taiwanese fishing vessel the Taiwanese captain was killed and two Chinese seamen wounded and the FV CHUN TSAI 68 was sunk. Several Somalis also were killed in this incident and the rest of the gang later set free at the Somali shores. Since they were part of the wider group holding MV Rosalia D'Amato this intervention certain had also no positive impact on a quick solution for the release of the merchant ship.
Vessel and crew are now still held off Ceel Dhanaane at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia and it is understood that negotiations have not yet been really forthcoming.
Reports from the area at the end of July state that the crew is all right, given the circumstances, but that the pirates believe other cargo is hidden under the load, which they say is not only soy beans but also chemicals. Local elders had to intervene to stop them from digging through or offloading the cargo.
Vessel and crew are still held off Hobyo at the end of July.
MT GEMINI : Seized April 30, 2011. The Singapore-flagged chemical tanker MT GEMINI (IMO 8412352) was reported to have been boarded by pirates on 30. April 2011 at 04h03 UTC (07h03 local time) in position Latitude 07 01S Longitude 041 22E, off the Tanzanian coast - 115 nm ESE of Zanzibar Island, Tanzania.
NATO stated that they received their report only at 07h33 UTC on 01. May 2011, but confirmed the sea-jacking, stating that two skiffs were seen on board the vessel on her way to Somalia at position Latitude 02 47S and Longitude 043 03E. Just a day before the new sea-jacking NATO had released a map warning of pirate activity in that area. EU NAVFOR has not yet reported.
A press statement from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore last night said the vessel had sent out a distress signal at 11.50am Singapore time on Saturday.
The vessel has as registered owner GOLDEN SPRING LINE but is owner-managed by GLORY SHIP MANAGEMENT PTE LTD. - all of Singapore. The vessel is, however, in the moment on a spot charter for a Singapore charterer. The ship is insured by the North of England P&I Association, but the crew is not covered by an ITF agreement.
The company said the MT Gemini, an ABS class medium-range 29,871 deadweight tonne vessel, is believed to have been hijacked at about 12.30pm Singapore time on Saturday.
The vessel was carrying over 28,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil from Kuala Tanjung in Indonesia to Mombasa in Kenya. It had left Kuala Tanjung, Sumatra, on April 16.
Glory Ship Management confirmed that four of the 25 men crew, including the captain, are from South Korea, 13 are from Indonesia, three are from Myanmar and five are from China.
Its Singapore office last made satellite phone contact with the ship captain in the early afternoon (Singapore time) on April 30 before contact was cut off.
"Our highest concerns are for the safety and well-being of the crew members. Since learning of the incident, Glory's management and its manning agents are exhausting all efforts to contact the family members of the crew in the respective countries," Glory said in a statement on Sunday. "We will make every effort to secure their release. The company is keeping the appropriate Singapore and international authorities fully informed of the situation. As our absolute priority is the safety and well-being of the crew, we are not at liberty to release any further details of the situation," it added.
The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center and the Chinese Embassy in Singapore separately confirmed that they have received report on the incident. The crew members include five Chinese nationals, China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said.
All four South Koreans on board, including the 56-year-old captain known by his family name Park, are in their 50s, and official from the Korean Foreign Ministry stated.
In April a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) maritime patrol plane was deployed to beef up patrols against piracy in Gulf of Aden. The Fokker 50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and 38 servicemen are supposed to scan the waters off Somalia and protect merchant ships in the area for three months. The team will be based in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti and will operate under the multinational Combined Task Force 151, which is now being led by Singaporeans. Rear-Admiral Harris Chan and 24 other Singapore Armed Forces servicemen have been leading the flotilla's four ships since April 1. They will coordinate counter-piracy operations with naval forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and other navies till June.
The MV GEMINI was registered with MSC(HOA) and was reporting to UKMTO, is at present commandeered further north and already inside Somali waters.
The vessel's operator, Glory Ship Management, said they will lead negotiations with the pirates for a prompt release of all those on board the tanker.
After a brief halt off Mogadishu, the pirated MT GEMINI arrived at the pirate lair off Ceel Gaan (Harardheere District) at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast on 04. May 2011.
Analysts fear that after the Indonesian Navy at the end of an otherwise excellent release operation for MV SINAR KUDUS spoiled the Indonesian success by killing the last four Somali pirates leaving the vessel the Somali sea-gangs will want to retain a final safety until they are on land and most likely will take in future now hostages with them as human shield. Especially hard treatment of the Indonesian hostageson MT GEMINI could also be a result.
"We are cooperating with the Singaporean government so our sailors will be treated well, given protection and freed soon," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters.
"The captain of the vessel contacted the shipping line in Singapore earlier in the day via satellite phone and confirmed all crew members were unharmed," an official source said on 05. May 2011. He said South Korea's embassy in the Southeast Asian country has reported the contact to Seoul. The official, however, said the phone connection was bad and was broken very quickly so the shipping line is waiting to hear more information. At present, the hijackers have yet to make demands or ask the company to pay ransom for the crew and ship.
Htay Aung, a central executive committee member of the Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB), said that the pirates will demand money, but the crew is probably not in mortal danger.
The vessel was moored off Ceel Gaan but left towards Hobyo. Negotiations for the release of vessel and crew have reportedly commenced.
The Somali pirates holding among the other hostages also four South Koreans on MT GEMINI demanded on15 July through different media and phoney websites that the South Korean government must specifically release those pirate prisoners in South Korean jail and pay compensation for several of their relatives killed by a commando raid earlier this year.
"First, we want the South Korean government to change its foolish treatment of us and come with a better approach toward us," he said in a statement read to the AP. "Second, we want compensation from them because they killed our brothers and they also have to release others in their jails. After that we may reconsider holding their nationals in our hands," he said.
Captain Pak Hyeon of the South Korean-managed, Singapore-flag hijacked Gemini contacted VOA by phone on July 16, saying the pirates want Seoul to pay compensation for eight dead comrades and release another five held prisoner. He said the pirates have not named a price.
He also said he and three other crew members are being kept separate from the other hostages. Pak said that the pirates are treating him and his fellow 24 crew members well and that they do not believe they are in any immediate danger. But he said they are fed only twice a day, kept inside aboard their ship and are homesick.
MV SHIHAAN (aka MV SHAAN - name not yet officially confirmed) : Seized 18 July 2011. Local marine observers reported on 18. July 2011 that three smaller cargo vessel were attacked by a large group of sea-shifta just off Bossaso, the harbour town of the Somali regional state of Puntland.
In the ensuing getaway bid the Somali pirates, who had taken a total of 67 seafarers from mainly Asian nations hostage caused damage to the engines in two of the boats, while struggling against the heavy swell.
The two limping vessels were then abandoned and the gang escaped in MV SHIHAAN, taking with them 19 crew from India and Pakistan as hostages and human shield.
The sea-shifta with this vessel didn't bother to come to the coast but took the vessel out to the sea in order to get larger prey.
FV NN PAKISTAN : Seized 09. August 2011. The fishing vessel from Pakistan with 14 crew members was seized by a pirate gang. On board around 20 more passengers where found, who are claimed to be insurgents with U.S.American, British, Italian and Arab nationalities. The armed passengers were released at the shores of Bargaal against a payment and disappeared into the mountains above Xull. The vessel and crew are still commandeered by the pirate group. Further reports are awaited.
MT FAIRCHEM BOGEY : Seized 20. August 2011. The 2010 built Chemical/Oil Tanker of 25,390 dwt MT FAIRCHEM BOGEY (IMO 9423750), sailing under Marshall Islands flag was at anchor in the designated anchorage area of Salalah port at Oman in position 16 54 N and 054 03 E and awaiting berthing instructions, when the conning hijackers managed at 01h50 UTC on 20. August 2010 to board the ship from a vessel that was ferrying a load of cattle.
India's Directorate General of Shipping said the Fairchem Bogey, managed by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, was hijacked while anchored in Salalah port. T. Hayase, president of Fairfield Japan Ltd., the Japanese subsidiary of Roseland, New Jersey-based vessel owner Fairfield- Maxwell Services Ltd., confirmed the hijack. Tom Boyd, director of external communications at APM Terminals, told Reuters there were no reported injuries or deaths among the crew, adding that the Omani government was negotiating with the pirates. APM Terminals has a 30 percent share in Salalah port and operates it for the government. "The Omani authorities are in discussion with the pirates. Government leaders have met this morning at the palace of the Sultan of Oman. At 8.28 a.m. the vessel sailed in the direction of Somalia," Boyd said. The ship prior to reaching Salalah had discharged cargo at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia and from Oman port and was to proceed towards China with a crew of 21 Indian seafarers on board, who are covered by an ITF agreement. The chem-tanker had earlier armed guards on board, but had released them in Oman.
The tanker is owned by EURUS MARITIME SA of Singapore and its ISM Manager is ANGLO-EASTERN Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte Ltd., while it is under direct management of Fair FAIRFIELD CHEMICAL CARRIERS of Wilton, USA. The brand new vessel is insured by Japan Ship Owners' P&I Association.
A Salalah-based shipping source said the vessel was being loaded with methanol when it was seized. According to Anglo-Eastern Management officials, all crew members, "appear safe with no injuries."
Giving details about the hijacking, the shipping company officials disclosed that when Omani Coast Guard approached the vessel the pirates asked them to move away to avoid casualties to the crew.
Questions have been raised why a new chem-tanker would be sailing from Oman to China without a load, just in ballast and without guards. The Fairchem Bogey's owners said they did at that time not have armed security on board, according to Harrie Harrison, a spokesman for the European Union Naval Force.
After the attack just 3 nautical miles off the Omani port of Salaleh, the vessel was commandeered to Somalia and then was taken towards the Somali coast.
Omani Directorate General of Shipping chief, Satish Agnihotri stated:"We are still not sure as to the demands of the hijackers who are probably from Somali coast. So far they have not contacted the owners or the company officials or any member of designated authorities."
It arrived meanwhile off Garcad at the north-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, where it is anchored now.
FV NN YEMEN: Seized August 27, 2011. The vessel, obviously engaged in illegal fishing, was attacked inl state the afternoon of 27. August 2011 of the tip of the Horn of Africa en route to Alula district in Somalia's Puntland regional state. Since the captors opened fire on the dhow 3 fishermen were wounded. 9 of the 13 Yemeni fishermen are reportedly at present held in captivity at Ras Bina near Bargaal on land, while the three wounded fishermen and the captain remain on the vessel, which is set to be used as piracy launch.
FVs NN IRAN : Four more Iranian fishing vessels are missing and wanted. The dates when they were allegedly seajacked by Somali pirates are not known exactly, but we have at least one vessel name: FV HASSAM, a boat which was captured 70 nautical miles off the port of Eyl at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, and three of their official registration numbers: 4/2922, 4/2985, and 4/3718. Iranian FV AL FAYAD (aka AL FAJAD aka AL AFINIYA) (Reg: 4/3672) was attacked on 20. April 2011 by the Danish navy, killing six - including possibly one crew member and wounding 5 (including one Iranian crew member), off Hobyo and then was attacked again by the same navy operating under NATO and sunk on 21. April 2011. While the 4 Pakistani crew members could already be flown out a humanitarian problem remains in this case to now also repatriate the remaining 10 Iranian crew members.
Unfortunately no exact crew lists for the Iranian vessels are usually provided, but it is estimated that at least 45 more Iranian fishermen are held on these boats.
One of the sea-jacked Iranian fishing vessels with the registration number 4/3739 was set free on 01. April 2011 by the Danish navy wounding three Somalis while operating under NATO. At the same time the Dutch "liberated" another vessel, MSV HORMUZ (aka URMUZ), which had been seized January 21, 2011 with killing two Somalis and wounding five. In both cases - after repairs - the vessels could sail off, while the two dead Somalis were dumped by the Dutch into the ocean, which caused widespread uproar in Somalia and internationally.
Latest reports stated that two earlier abducted Iranian fishing vessels with the registration numbers 4/3785 and 4/4050 reached on 8. February 2011 and one fishing vessel with the registration 4/3810 and 18 crew reached on 19 Feb 2011 their home ports in Iran safely, though some of the crew were injured. The six Somalis on pirated MSV AL SAADI gave themselves up to the U.S.American navy and the dhow was set free with 15/16 Pakistanis - where the Iranian members of the originally 22 men crew remain is not clear, while one seafarer died.
We try to establish the fate of the others.
On 02. June 2011 at 09h55UTC one of these fishing dhows nicknamed "JELBUT 31" was observed as being under pirate control and conducting piracy or smuggling operations in the vicinity of position 02 19N and 050 00E. Her two empty attack skiffs in tow were then destroyed by a German frigate.
On 10. June 2011 at 12h05UTC the position of the vessel was reported from 05 55S-041 and 34E. The vessel is still under pirate control, but not longer considered a threat.
Please send any report concerning these vessels to office[AT]ecoterra-international.org
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OTHER CASES NOT COMPLETELY CLOSED:
- please see: Status of not yet resolved Maritime Incidences off Somalia
THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO A WARNING TO VESSELS TRAVERSING THE SOMALI BASIN TO BE AWARE OF LARGER VESSELS BEING USED AS LAUNCHING PAD AND DECOY FOR PIRACY ATTACKS .
All vessels navigating in the Indian Ocean are advised to consider keeping East of 60E when routing North/South and to consider routing East of 60E and South of 10S when proceeding to and from ports in South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.
The Indian Government has issued a NOTICE on 30th March 2010: All Indian-flagged motorized sailing vessels are - with immediate effect - no longer permitted to ply the waters south and west of a line joining Salalah (Oman) and Malé (Maldives).
NOTIFICATION BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT
- Issued by The Directorate General of Shipping, Mumbai.
DIRECTIONS 31. March 2010
The Directorate has issued directions prohibiting the trading of mechanized sailing vessels south and west of the line joining Salalah and Male, with immediate effect.
Likewise the Government of Sri Lanka has issued a decree instructing especially their fishing vessels not to venture further west than the latitude 70 degrees East.
NON-MARITIME HOSTAGE CASES IN SOMALIA:
Missing:
Briton Murray Watson and Kenyan Patrick Amukhuma are missing since 01. April 2008. They were working on a U.N.-funded project in the Juba valley, were seized by gunmen near Bua'le and taken to Jilib, 280 km (175 miles) south of Mogadishu. Media reports until November 2010 maintained they are still being held and close sources reveal that the case is one of a so far Unsuccessful Resolution with no independent proof of live since a long time. While, based on reports from the ground, it could be assumed that Patrick Amukhuma had died, the meanwhile penniless Kenyan-Somali spouse with 3 children of Mr. Watson appealed as recently as October 2010 again for the return of the British researcher. Last observations from Salagle in the Jubba Valley revealed certain activities, which indicate that the case might no longer be a real hostage case.
Political hostage:
French officer Denis Allex. Somali gunmen kidnapped two French security advisers working for the Somali TFG government from the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu on July 14 2009. Police said one escaped on Aug. 26 after killing three of his captors, but Marc Aubriere denied killing anyone and said he slipped away while his guards slept. A video released by Al Shabab was showing the second officer still being held and political demands for his release were made by Al Shabab. On June 9, 2010 the video appeared on a website often used by Islamist militant groups, which said the hostage, named as Denis Allex, had issued a "message to the French people". The video showed the captive in an orange outfit with armed men standing behind him.
France has received "proof of life" of one of its secret agents held hostage in Somalia since July 2009, the French foreign intelligence service DGSE said on Tuesday, 27. December 2010.A DGSE source said the service had received "a reply to a personal question" to which Denis Allex, a French secret agent kidnapped by an Islamist group on July 14, 2009, was able to respond, proving he was alive.
"No detail was given by his captors on the state of his health nor on his location or the conditions in which he is being held," the source added. Several, but not very serious attempts from both sides have been made recently to solve the case. Denis Allex is still held somewhere in the Bay-Bakol area.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 33 (plus 18) seized vessels (of presently 54 listed as not secured) and one barge with a total of not less than 558 hostages or captives are accounted for. Despite a directive by the Philippine government that no Pinoy seafarer should ply these dangerous routes, there are numerous Filipinos currently held captive by pirates. All cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without a trace or information, are still being followed too. While in 2005 there were only three merchant ships molested off the coast of Somalia and in 2006 four (two merchant and two fishing vessels), in 2007 when Abdullahi Yussufs soldiers had returned to Puntland and were trained to become sea-bandits as well as after the enlargement of the CTF 150 fleet then there were 13 (incl. many fishing vessels and small merchant vessels) ships captured. In 2008 with the onset of CTF 151 and the US funded Puntland Intelligence Service (PIS) and the inception of the EU NAVFOR armada over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for Somalia with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases and the mistaken sinking of one captured illegal fishing vessel with the killing of her crew by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces, including the horrible murder of Yemeni and Somali fishermen in a mid-nightly raid on a natural harbour in Puntland committed by a Norwegian commando unit.
For 2010 the recorded account around the Horn of Africa stood at 243 incidences with 202 direct attacks by Somali sea-shifta resulting in 74 sea-jackings on the one side and on the other the sinking of one merchant vessel (MV AL-ABI ) by machine-gun fire from the Seychelles's coastguard boat TOPAZ (11 Somalis now jailed for 10 years in the Seychelles) as well as the wrongful attack by the Indian navy on an innocent Yemeni fishing vessel and the sinking of FV SIRICHAI NAVA 11 with many injured sailors and at least five people from the vessel and 8 attackers dead. Sea-jacked MV AL-ASSA - without its original Yemeni crew - was used as pirate vessel and likewise sunk while the Somali captors allegedly were released on land. In addition four Somali fishermen were killed by naval helicopter, which the navies cowardly never identified, at Labad north of Hobyo and one fisherman has killed by AMISOM forces near Mogadishu harbour.
For 2011 the recorded account stands at confirmed 163 incidences with 131 direct attacks and at least 37 ships sea-jacked, while 9 foreign seafarers died in Somalia.
The naval alliances had since August 2008 and until May 2010 apprehended 1090 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for prosecution 480, killed at least 64 and wounded over 24 Somalis. (Independent update on the killings of Somalis see: EXCLUSIV - whereby it must be stated that while trying to keep up with the killings and arrests, the deportations of Somalis or cases where they were set out again without supplies to face sure death on the ocean - like the Russians did in at least one case - it is due to the in-transparency of the navies extremely difficult and hard to keep track and the journalist who maintained these statistics gave up to count and started a new blogon the foreign military adventures of the EU). It must, be noted that most navies have become since the beginning of 2010 extremely secretive and do neither report properly to the Somali government, which is compulsory according to the UN security council resolutions nor to the UN itself or through their media outlets on the real number of casualties and injuries they inflict.
ECOTERRA Intl. calls many of the death-cases which occur in the piracy- as well as in the anti-piracy-circus EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS - if not outright murder - and has requested already several times that thorough investigations have to follow each incident and the findings to be made public. The UN must be held fully accountable for upholding the believes in the navies that they would act legally and must account for each and every act committed under their banner. All acts committed by Somalis as well as all acts committed by the navies must be scrutinized with the same impartial zeal to let justice prevail.
Without a declaration of war by any nation of the UN and or by any of the states sending those navies, who are hiding behind illegal UN resolution constructs, these nations are waging war against the majority of innocent Somali people and are committing murder with impunity, while neither the sates nor the UN or the Somali governance are following up. Only in rare cases the real culprits of piracy and crimes committed on the High Seas or in the territorial waters of Somalia are brought to to book. The UN and all the navies are betting on the fact that the Somalis - a majority being illiterate - do not have the knowledge and means to legally follow up on cases of outright murder and illegitimate warfare, and know that the present Somali governance is not in a position to defend the Somali people against any aggressor or injustices brought against them by foreign hands. The UN and the navies have lost their moral standing by not investigating these acts.
Reports of not well documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (although not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail or like the S/Y Serenity and MV Indian Ocean Explorer were sunk to cover their drug-smuggling activities. Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: RS: YELLOW / SRS: ORANGE / GoA: ORANGE / AS: ORANGE / NIO: YELLOW / SIO: BLUE (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = risk low but still possible, Green = unlikely). Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon. Starting from mid February until early April as well as around October every year an increase in piracy cases can be expected. With the onset of the monsoon winds and rough seas piracy cases decline.
If you have any additional information concerning the cases, please send to office[at]ecoterra-international.org - if required we guarantee 100% confidentiality.
For further details and regional information request the Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor (SMCM) and see the situation map of thePIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA (2011). See the archive at www.australia.to and news on www.international.to
EMERGENCY HELPLINES: sms or call: +254-719-603-176 / +254-714-747-090
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ECOTERRA Intl. is an international nature protection and human rights organization, whose Africa offices in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania also monitor the marine and maritime situation along the East African Indian Ocean coasts as well as the Gulf of Aden. ECOTERRA is working in Somalia since 1986 and does focus in its work against piracy mainly on coastal development, marine protection and pacification. ECOP-marine (www.ecop.info) is an ECOTERRA group committed to fight against all forms of crime on the waters. Both stand firm against illegal fishing as well as against marine overexploitation and pollution.
N.B.: This status report is mainly for the next of kin of seafarers held hostage, who often do not get any information from the ship-owners or their governments, and shall serve as well as clearing-house for the media. Unless otherwise stated it is for educational purposes only. Request for further details can be e-mailed to: somalia[at]ecoterra.net (you have to verify your mail). Our reporting without fear or favour is based on integrity and independence.
Witnesses and whistle-blowers with proper information concerning naval operations and atrocities, acts of piracy or other crimes on the seas around the Horn of Africa, hostage case backgrounds and especially concerning illegal fishing and toxic wast dumping or pollution by ships as well as any environmental information, can call our 24h numbers and e-mail confidentially or even anonymously or to office[AT]ecoterra-international.org and also can request a PGP-key for secure transmission.
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SUPPORT WANTED: With now still over 30 cases to monitor and to respond to calls of crews and families for help, our team has too much work. Volunteers from in- and outside Somalia are therefore welcome to support our efforts. Please send a mail to: office[AT]ecoterra-international.org IF YOU CAN AND WANT TO HELP.
© 2011, ECOTERRA SOMALIA, Mogadishu. This compilation or parts of it may be reprinted and republished as long as the content remains unaltered, and ECOTERRA Intl. is cited as source. 926
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