2012 must be theyear when piracy in Somalia becomes an issue of the past !!!
All piracy - the piracy involving illegal fishing, waste dumping and trafficking of drugs, weapons and people - usually carried out by people and entities from foreign nations and the piracy of merchant vessels committed by Somali pirates or by Somali mercenaries under instructions from foreign groups must end at once and for all times.
COUNTER-PIRACY UPDATES STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra - 08. January 2012)
PROTECTING AND MONITORING LIFE, BIODIVERSITY AND THE ECOSYSTEMS OF 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, helped hostages to get medical or humanitarian relief and released, assisted in negotiations and helped the families of victims. Our focus to make piracy an issue of the past is concentrating on holistic coastal development as key to uplift communities from abhorrent poverty and to secure their marine and coastal ecosystems against any harm. DECLARE INTERDEPENDENCE STATUS-SUMMARY: Today, 08. January 2012 at 23h00 UTC, at least 26 larger plus 18 smaller foreign vessels plus one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 418 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple, two (or now only one) frail elderly ladies and four aid-workers - 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 now over 7,000 Haitians having been killed by an Asian Cholera strain introduced by unchecked, so-called UN Peace-Keepers from Nepal into Haiti. Ban Ki-Moon is lying when he says that it has not yet been proven scientifically. He has to take responsibility, pay financial reparations and console as well as compensate the families of those killed and those almost 500,000 infected as well as the future losses in a country which had eradicated Cholera over 100 years ago - until Ban Ki-Moon sent sick biological agents from Nepal.
LATEST: STILL OVER 400 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 as well as to help the Somali people and government to protect and police their own waters. Updates and latest news on known cases of piracy - see the status section :
CREW APPARENTLY FREED,
BUT MALTESE TANKER NOT YET RELEASED BY SOMALI PIRATES (ecop-marine)
Though the national Georgian news agency GHN, stated in a January 8 post that the release may happen any time soon as Georgian authorities had established a special Committee to facilitate the release, because the owner had actually abandoned crew plus vessel while the Georgian President was monitoring the situation, and though a website reported the release of the vessel after allegedly a ransom drop took place in the morning of Jan 8, Somali pirates have not yet released the tanker MT OLIB G, local observers stated.
"The pirates are still on board and key-people, who usually would have to go on the vessel for a release are still on land near Ceel Dhanaane," a monitor reported.
However, families were informed by the company that the crew had been freed, though they have not yetbeen able to communicate with their loved ones and can only imagine that just the crew had been released against the reportedly relative moderate ransom - but not the vessel. It is assumed that the freed crew is no longer on board and was taken on board a nearby vessel. According to other sources the crew is all right - given the circumstances.
An official confirmation has not yet been received.
Last October, the pirate gang released a video of the hostages and demanded $9 million for their release, but ever since the case has been haunted by pirate quarrels, unclear negotiations and false reporting.
MV Olib G was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on September 8, 2010 and is at present held off Ceel Dhanaane at the north-eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast. - see more background information below.
THAI HOSTAGE SAILOR NOT ON DARK SIDE OF MOON (ecop-marine)
Ancient Thai mythology has it that the dead are gathered on the dark side of the moon, and that believe is carried on despite the one hundred or so space probes, which meanwhile circled the earth's planet in modern times.
One Thai seafarer, however, did not travel to the backside of the moon and did not perish - as ECOTERRA observers found out now - despite the believe, which Somali pirates and the remaining crew of meanwhile beached Thai fishing vessel FV PRANTALAY 12, tried to install in the hostage negotiator from the owner company as well as in the observers, journalists and humanitarian and maritime organizations, who try to help to solve that case.
Mr. Ton Wiyasing - Chief Officer of the vessel and 35 years of age - had reportedly died in captivity on 18. November 2011, but ECOTERRA Intl. had already back then aired doubts about the death, because their marine observers couldn't obtain any independent verification.
With the new year it became clear that the whole story was nothing but an attempt to put more pressure on the Thai government and the negotiator of the company to comply with the demands of the pirates. The buccaneers apparently persist in their demands for a quiet high ransom - as if they still would hold the three vessels of the fleet and the all the crew members, which numbered at the beginning of their ordeal
Though Mr. Ton Wiyasing had been sick, he played the story of his death together with the pirates in a desperate move to gain the freedom for the 4 remaining Thai hostages.
This Thai sailor is therefore not on the dark side of the moon, but is still held together with the three other surviving crew members, all Thai nationals, in a dark hole along the hot Somali coast, awaiting a pro-active move from his government and vessel owner to free these desperate men.
Observers report that neither the Thailand government nor the vessel owner have recently made any attempt to free the remaining sailors, while the gang holding them has made renewed death threats and issued a final ultimatum of ten days. PIRATES NOT LETTING LOOSE - MASSIVE NUMBER OF ATTACKS IN ONE DAY ALERT 06 Jan 2012: SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
A vessel has reported seeing suspicious activity in the vicinity of the Bab al Mandeb.
2 skiffs with 6 persons on board were seen acting suspiciously.
***This vessels is Safe***
*** The Pirate Attack Group is still in the region***
This is in the same area as the previous attacks:
Date of Alert: 04 Jan 2012 Location: [001] Gulf of Aden 13 10 N 049 12 E
Latitude: 13 10 N
Longitude: 049 12 E
At 0200 UTC a merchant vessel was attacked by 1 skiff in position 13 10 N 049 12 E.
**This vessel managed to evade hijack***
*** Vessel is SAFE***
The Pirate Attack group is still in the area.
Date of Alert: 04 Jan 2012 At 0446 UTC 04 JAN 2012 a merchant vessel was attack by 1 skiff with 6 POB in position 22 27 N 060 59 E.
**This vessel managed to evade hijack***
*** Vessel is SAFE***
The Pirate action group is still in the area.
Date of Alert: 04 Jan 2012 Location: GULF OF ADEN 12 17 N 044 10 E
Latitude: 12 17 N
Longitude: 044 10 E
At 0822 UTC a merchant vessel was reported under attack by a skiff in position 12 17 N 044 10 E.
***This vessel managed to evade hijack***
The Pirate Attack group is still in the area.
Also on 04. January 2011 NATO reported: There have been reports of 4 skiffs in the Gulf of Aden/ Bab al Mandeb region. This Pirate Attack Group has attacked 1 vessel, and approached 3 vessels. These suspicious approaches occured:
0345Z in vicinity of 1205N 04423E
0753Z in vicinity of 12 14N 044 11E
0817Z in vicinity of 12 17N 044 10E
***These vessels are Safe***
*** The Pirate Attack Group is still in the region***
IMB outlined:
04.01.2012: 0750 UTC: Posn: 12:14N - 044:11E: Gulf of Aden. Four pirates in a skiff maintained a parallel course with a crude tanker before suddenly increasing speed to 25 knots and coming alongside in an attempt to board. No ladders were seen on the skiff. Master raised alarm, commenced evasive manoeuvres and non-essential crew retreated into citadel. Five minutes later, the pirates aborted their attempt and targeted another vessel in the convoy.
04.01.2012 :0735 UTC: Posn: 12:14.6N-044:11.8E, Gulf of Aden. Pirates in a skiff chased and attempted to board a bulk carrier underway. The vessel enforced anti piracy measures, increased speed and made evasive manoeuvres resulting in the pirates moving away.
04.01.2012:0200 UTC: Posn: 13:10N - 049:12E, Gulf of Aden. Pirates in a skiff chased and fire upon a bulk carrier underway. Onboard security team fired flares to warn the pirates which were ignored and later only when the security team returned fire the skiff aborted the attack.
"Hijack" freed outside Bosaso Port Somalia (FlagOfConvenience)
Somali pirates released the Indian-flagged "
MV SAVINA AL-SALAAM" and its' 16 all-Indian crew as well as 3,620 heads of livestockwithout ransom on Thursday. The pirates released the boat late on January 5 at 4:30pm. There was no ransom paid.
Speculators said: "It's unclear why the pirates abandoned the boat, but it seems that they weren't expecting a ship carrying livestock. "The boat carried 3620 livestock, and it appears the pirates thought the boat was carrying only goods – so they thought to use it to mount attacks from – but they didn't want to deal with the livestock, the hijackers found the Savina too heavy to use as a mothership for launching attacks."
The Savina al-Salaam is now on course for Oman. Earlier was reported: "Livestock carrier said to be named Savina Al-Salaam,and owned 'by India', has 16 crew. All are Indian. The boat also carried four Somali passengers, three women and one man, all have Oman visas, The cargo was 3620 animals, livestock loaded at Bosaso Port. The name of captain is Naaji Hussien. They hijacked while the boat was at sea and heading to Oman."
"
MV SAVINA AL-SALAAM", 9,206 grt; 12,113 dwt.
Built: 1975 by ENVC - Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo SA. Viana do Castelo, Portugal. Yard no 95.
Main engine: six-cylinder,two -stroke H Cegielski-Sulzer 6RND68 of 7,200 bhp at 157 rpm. Speed: 18 knots.
Built for Arya National Shipping Lines SA, Iran as ARYA ZAR; renamed in 1980.
2003-to breakers at Mumbai, India 28/6
Status: Dead Added: Dec 01, 2011
Previous Name: Iran Salam
IMO: 7385162
Callsign: EPDZ
Last known flag: IRAN
Former name(s): - Arya Zar (Until 1980 Jul 19)
N.B.: ECOP-marine as well as EU NAVFOR, NATO and other anti-piracy forces don't consider this case a case of piracy, but one of a business dispute. Such are common concerning vessels leaving from Bosaso harbour. An old score based on an earlier weapons delivery can also not be ruled out.
©2012 - ecoterra / ecop-marine - articles above are exclusive reports and, if not specifically ©-marked , free for publication as long as cited correctly and the source is quoted. The maritime articles below are cleared or commented. If you don't find a specific article, it most likely was not worth to be republished here, but if you feel we have overlooked an important publication, please mail it to us. What you always wanted to know about piracy, but never dared to ask: SEARCH THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE INTERNET PORTAL ON PIRACY
MV Iceberg: Ship owner-pirates negotiations fail By Shoaib Ahmed (CNN-IBN)
The agony continues for families of the six Indians held hostage by Somali pirates for two years now. Negotiations between the owner of MV Iceberg and the pirates have failed.
Government sources have told CNN-IBN that they are not only considering to facilitate a meeting of the families with the Dubai-based ship owner, but are also looking at immediate financial support for the families and even help in filing cases against the ship owner.
"Negotiations have failed, the government is not doing anything. My request to the government is to at least facilitate our meeting with the ship owner so that we can talk to him face-to-face to get our children back," father of a captive sailor Purshottam Tiwari said.
Hijacked in March 2009, the owner of this cargo ship has not only stopped negotiations with the pirates but hasn't even paid a single penny to the families of the sailors.
Sources also said that the government is also considering to offer help to the families so that they to take legal action against the ship owner.
Once a case is filed against an owner, his ship can be seized at any port across the world compelling him to fall in line. As for the sailors, they are making just one desperate plea.
"My son told me papa please do something quickly or else you won't meet me alive," father of a captive sailor Mansing Mohite said.
One crew-member is already dead; others are on the verge of starvation and with the government's assurance yielding little, the fragile hope of these families are fading fast.
[N.B.: It has now also transpired that Indian government officials have actually intimidated family members who in their own right seek a solution to this horror nightmare.]
MV ICEBERG: THE WORLDS LONGEST PIRACY NIGHTMARE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHmqj6sL2bo
SA SAILING COUPLE STILL HOSTAGES IN SOMALIA
New Years Messsage from the hostage families: "We wish we had more help from media – at the moment we only receive support from Independent Newspapers) and corporates to collect funds to help save Bruno Pelizzari (my brother) and Debbie Calitz ASAP from their cruel, senseless captivity by Somali pirates.
We are struggling to get past secretaries of owners / financiers of companies AND we are battling to get the word out to the general public. We have submitted an application for Public Announcement Status by SABC Radio, but they seem to be sitting on it.
Our goal is not the US $4 million the Somali rebels are demanding – our goal is about R850,000 (US $100,000). We are confident the Mr Ali we have to deal with will eventually accept. We need to collect this soon as we were instructed by government not to collect from the start – but we wish I had not followed their advice. Government have said they will not prevent us from collecting but we now have a lot of WASTED time to catch up on – almost a year. this is the ONLY way to get them out. We have opened a Trust Fund which is registered as an NPO. We, the families, need help to Save Our Loved Ones." -- Vera Hecht, Durban
- see further details below in the hostage section.
Family of killed skipper demands explanation from U.S. (CNA)
The family of a Taiwanese fishing boat captain who was killed inadvertently by a U.S. warship during an anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean in May continued to push for details of the skipper's death and compensation from the U.S. Thursday.
Wu Hui-ju, a daughter of the killed captain Wu Lai-yu, said William A. Stanton, head of the American Institute In Taiwan's (AIT's) Taipei Office, had said "sorry" to the family three times and had also provided photos and videos related to the warship's operation and her father's death.
However, she said that after watching the videos and studying the photos, she found the operation was still "questionable" and her family "couldn't understand why the U.S. opened fire."
"We hope the U.S. government gives us a clear explanation and takes responsibility for killing my father," she added.
Wu's vessel, the Taiwan registered Zechuntsai No. 68, was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in late March 2010. After more than a year of negotiations, Wu's family finally struck a ransom deal in late April 2011.
However, during a USS Stephen W. Groves NATO operation off the coast of the eastern African country on May 10, 2011, Wu was reportedly killed during an exchange of fire between forces on the U.S. vessel and Somali pirates who had taken control of his fishing vessel.
Wu Tien Li-shou, wife of the deceased skipper, demanded a formal apology from the U.S. and compensation for her husband's death and the vessel, saying she is willing to discuss the amount of compensation with U.S. officials.
Tseng Yu-tsung, an official with the Liouciou Fishermen's Association, said the family is still waiting for an investigative report, which the AIT promised to submit by Dec. 31 last year.
According to Tseng, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will step in to assist if the U.S. fails to contact the family about the report.
If the U.S. ignores the case, Tseng went on, the ministry will help the family file administrative litigation to acquire a reasonable amount of compensation.
In addition, Wu's family also expressed appreciation to Kuomintang lawmaker Ho Tsai-feng for her assistance in the case.
The AIT paid an ex gratia payment to the Wu family in August last year to express its condolences to the bereaved family. The amount of the payment was not revealed.
-see also our earlier comprehensive reports about the killing of the Taiwanese skipper by US-American Naval Forces
U.S. Navy Rescues Iranian Fishing Vessel from Pirates in Arabian Sea By Commander (NavalForcesCentralCommandPublicAffairs-NNS)
Forces assigned to the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, rescued an Iranian fishing vessel from pirates in the northern Arabian Sea, Jan. 5.
At approximately 12:30 p.m local time, an SH-60S Seahawk from guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) detected a suspected pirate skiff alongside the
Iranian-flagged fishing dhow Al Molai. Simultaneously, a distress call was received from the master of the Al Molai claiming he was being held captive by pirates.
A visit, board, search and seizure team from Kidd boarded the Al Molai and detained 15 suspected pirates who had been holding a 13-member Iranian crew hostage for several weeks. The Al Molai had been pirated and used as a "mother ship" for pirate operations throughout the Persian Gulf, according to members of the Iranian vessel's crew.
The pirates did not resist the boarding and surrendered quickly.
"The Al Molai had been taken over by pirates for roughly the last 40-45 days," said Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd. "They were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations."
According to members of the Kidd boarding party, the Iranian crew said they were forced by the pirates to live in harsh conditions, under the threat of violence with limited supplies and medical aid.
"When we boarded, we gave them food, water, and medical care," said Schminky. "They had been through a lot. We went out of our way to treat the fishing crew with kindness and respect.
"After securing the ship and ensuring the safety of all persons on board, we began distributing food and water to both the crew and the suspected criminals as is our standard practice in counter-piracy operations," said Schminky.
The pirates were detained on the Al Molai by the Kidd boarding party until the next morning when they could be transferred to the USS John C. Stennis where the matter will be reviewed for prosecution. The pirates currently remain on the Stennis.
"The captain of the Al Molai expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them. He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," said Schminky.
Piracy is an international problem that requires an international solution and a threat to all mariners. The presence of U.S. Navy ships in this region promotes freedom of navigation and protects the safety of those who transit the sea.
The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Prosecuting the pirates of the Iranian-flagged ship (FoC)
NCIS's Schminsky said the Iranian boat's captain thanked the U.S. for assistance. "He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," the U.S. team gave the crew food, water and medical care, and on January 6 they moved the captured pirates to the Stennis. They will remain there while the U.S. considers options for prosecution and consults with other nations that have joined forces against piracy.
"Sadly, this is not a new thing," Nuland told reporters, citing more than 1,000 pirates picked up at sea who are under prosecution in some 20 countries. "So this is always a question of where to send them and who will do the prosecution."
US Navy rescues Iranians from Somali pirates – no 'thank you' expected By Anna Mulrine (TheChristianScienceMonitor)
A US Navy search-and-seizure team rescued the crew of an Iranian fishing vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates in November. Maybe Iran will send a fruit basket.
Troops from a US Navy carrier strike group on Thursday rescued Iranians who had been held on a pirate mother ship for more than a month in "horrific" conditions, according to US military officials.
The gesture seems an unlikely one at a time when relations between the US and Iran – always strained – have been growing even tenser. As the US leads international efforts to ramp up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Iran has warned a US aircraft carrier not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
But a member of the search-and-seizure team from the USS Kidd that stormed the pirate ship said he and other members of the crew "went out of our way" to treat the Iranian fishermen "with kindness and respect."
"They had been through a lot," said Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the USS Kidd, in a statement.
One US military official notes that the Iranians had been held aboard a ship infested with three-inch cockroaches for 40 to 45 days. The US is not anticipating any "thank you's" from the Iranian government, though maybe, the US military official joked, "They won't threaten our ships for another week or so in gratitude."
It is conceivable that a low-level Iranian official could acknowledge the rescue and even officially express gratitude for it, says Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
That does not, however, augur any change in relations between two countries. "The problem is [Iran's] drive to move forward with its nuclear program – to expand Iranian power at a time it feels US power is weakening," Mr. Cordesman says.
"Does rescuing fishermen change anything? No," he adds. "Even if you get a fruit basket, it's just a fruit basket."
The saga began when an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel and its 13-member crew was seized in November by pirates operating in the northern Arabian Sea.
Two US military officials said the pirates were from Somalia, though a US Navy spokesperson says the pirates' origin is still under investigation.
US sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd saw a suspected pirate skiff Thursday alongside the Iranian shipping vessel, the
Al Molai. At the same time the captain of the Al Molai was able to make a distress call claiming he was being held by pirates.
The search-and-seizure team from the USS Kidd seized the Al Molai and detained the pirates, who "surrendered quickly," according to a US Naval Forces Central Command statement. There were no deaths or injuries reported.
The pirates had turned the Al Molai into a mother ship, which was being used to conduct piracy operations in the region.
Three satellite ships operated by the pirates were operating nearby, according to a Navy officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some members of the Iranian crew also appear to have been force "against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations," said Mr. Schminky in the statement.
The Iranian crew told the US Navy rescue team that they "were forced by the pirates to live in harsh conditions, under the threat of violence with limited supplies and medical aid," according to the statement.
"There were three-inch cockroaches – it was just horrific," said the US military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not cleared to speak on the matter publicly.
The search-and-seizure team gave the Iranian mariners food, water, and medical care.
The pirates were detained by the USS Kidd boarding party until Friday morning, when they were transferred to the USS John Stennis "where the matter will be reviewed for prosecution," according to the statement.
Iran has divided view of U.S. Navy's rescue of Iranian fishermen By Ramin Mostaghim and Alexandra Zavis (TheLosAngelesTimes)
Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed the U.S. Navy's rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, calling it a humanitarian act.
But the hard-line Fars News Agency, which is close to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, dismissed the rescue as a Hollywood-style propaganda stunt intended to justify the U.S. Navy's presence in the nearby Persian Gulf.
U.S. officials announced the rescue Friday, saying sailors from the guided-missile destroyer Kidd had boarded an Iranian dhow Thursday and detained 15 Somalis after one of the fishermen was able to reveal in a radio communication that his vessel's crew was being held captive.
The U.S. officials pointed out that the destroyer was part of the same group of warships that Iran had said was no longer welcome in the Persian Gulf.
"We consider the actions of the U.S. forces in saving the lives of the Iranian seamen to be a humanitarian and positive act, and we welcome such behavior," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told state television's Al Alam Arabic channel Saturday. "We think all nations should display such behavior."
Fars said Iran's navy has often freed foreign ships from pirates without seeking publicity.
"A U.S. helicopter filming the rescue operation from the first minute makes it look like a Hollywood movie with specific locations and specific actors," Fars said. "It shows the Americans were trying to exploit it through the media and present the American warship as a savior."
The rescue came amid increasing tension between the West and Iran over the country's disputed nuclear program. The United States and its allies suspect that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Iran, which says the program is for peaceful purposes only.
In response to escalating Western sanctions, Iranian officials have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the world's oil exports pass through the strategic choke point.
On Tuesday, Iran's army chief advised the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier to stay out of the Persian Gulf after it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The carrier strike group includes the Kidd.
On Saturday, the Revolutionary Guard began military exercises near the Afghan border, Fars reported.
Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the guard's ground forces, was quoted as saying that the war games began outside the eastern town of Khaf and were aimed at improving border security.
Iran is planning additional military exercises near the Strait of Hormuz next month.
PIRATE DHOW DISRUPTED (NATO)
There have been two disruptions of Pirate Attack Groups (PAGs) by naval Counter-Piracy (CP) forces over the past 24 hours.
Yesterday's approach (Alert 003) was interrupted by the presence of a CP helicopter, and later the dhow was disrupted in the evening of 05 January. The second disruption occurred early Friday morning in the IRTC where the dhow
Al-QASHMI was disrupted by naval CP forces.
Masters are still advised to be vigilant as there are other PAGs still active in the Bab al Mandeb (BAM), Gulf of Aden (GOA), and Arabian Sea (AS). Specific areas of concern are indicated on the
PAG Map… Current Situation The Gulf of Aden and Bab al Mandeb (BAM) are areas of increased threat to merchant shipping. On 4 January 2012, one vessel was attacked in the IRTC (Alert 001), another vessel was attacked near the Bab al Mandeb, and three vessels were approached (NSC 1/12). These attacks and approaches against merchant vessels demonstrate that piracy can occur at any time. Masters are advised that the PAGs involved in the attacks and approaches today are still in the area. Vessels should proceed with extreme caution through this area.
Pirates of the Arabian sea and other problems By: Vikram Sood (MidDay)
The harrowing and tragic experiences of November 26, 2008 had reflected a failure of all our systems that allowed the three-day carnage. Two years later, in May 2010 by when our maritime alert systems should have improved, a discarded cargo vessel MV Wisdom mysteriously ran aground at Juhu beach.
The ship had been towed close to the Mumbai coast past Bombay High and had narrowly missed hitting the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. While details of what happened have remained shrouded in mystery, there would have been some questions that the intelligence and security agencies would need to answer. For instance, what if the ship had carried some lethal cargo either radioactive, explosives, or CBW? Was it a Trojan horse whose occupants disappeared or was it just a dry run to test our responses?
For the past few years, the law and order on the high seas of the placid and commercial Arabian Sea has been deteriorating with Somali pirates colluding with the Shahbab terrorists from southern Somalia and the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba of Pakistan. Piracy in the Arabian Sea has been coming dangerously close to the Indian shores
In January 2011, Indian coast guards aborted an attempted piracy attack close to the Lakshadweep while later in March there were two similar piracy attempts — one about 600 nautical miles west of the Indian coast and another close to the Lakshadweep islands once again. Indian shipping interests have had at least 200 attacks so far from pirates.
Piracy and sea terrorism affect the security and commercial interests of major powers like China who seek to ensure continued supply of energy across the Arabian Sea. China has to take into account two choke points for energy imports — the Strait of Hormuz or the Malacca Straits, which hurt China, India and Japan. India receives imports amounting to US $ 50 billion and exports worth US $60 billion across the Arabian Sea every year. The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and then to the Arabian Sea.
About 15.5 million barrels of oil flowed through the Strait every day in 2009 and constituted about 33 per cent of all sea borne trade of oil, which was down from 40 per cent in the previous year. About 75 to 80 per cent of all crude exports were meant for Asian markets — China, Japan, South Korea and India. It has been estimated by the International Energy Agency that by 2030 China will import 13.1 million barrels of oil per day up from 3.5 million barrels per day in 2006. About half of these imports come from West Asia, which will continue to grow in the coming decades.
Almost due east from the Gulf of Oman is the Gwadar port on the Makran coast of Balochistan. About 550 km south west of the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea is the Gulf of Aden leading to the Suez canal; the southern coast line of the Gulf is Somalia, the home of present day pirates and terrorists.
The Seychelles archipelago, where China seeks berthing facilities, is about 1,350 kms from Somalia and about 2,800 kms from Kerala. China has begun to make moves in Afghanistan and Iran as it sees itself as a successor to the US. Its geo-strategic interests in Pakistan are well known. Securing the seas is a natural prerequisite to ensuring uninterrupted supplies of energy for its factories. It is the triangle of Gwadar, the Strait of Hormuz and Seychelles that would be important to Chinese interests in ensuring a steady supply of energy.
The pirates collect logistical data and raise funds for Al-Shahbab, in exchange for protection. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Al-Shahbab alliance would have serious maritime security issues for India and the two could operate out of Karachi more effectively just as the 26/11 terrorists did.
Our long coast line is inadequately manned by counter terrorist or security details. India has to get serious to protect its coastal interests and further afield protect the high seas — never an easy task. Eternal vigil and strengthening pre-emption capabilities are the best ways of safeguarding against the threat from terrorism and challenges from other powers and their competing interests that would impinge on ours. Platitudes and declarations will not do.
(*)
The writer is a former chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
Kenya to host anti-piracy conference in early 2012 (Xinhua)
The main objective of the conference will be to formulate a strategy to fight piracy that has contributed to the escalating lawlessness in Somalia Kenya is set to host a joint international conference with the United Nations and other development partners aimed at combating piracy in the East African coastline, a government official said on Saturday.
The Second Counselor for Political Affairs in the Foreign Ministry Anthony Safari told journalists in Nairobi that the government is currently holding preparatory meetings in readiness for the conference set for February 9, 2012.
"The main objective of the conference will be to formulate a strategy to fight piracy that has contributed to the escalating lawlessness in Somalia," Safari said.
"We will invite Heads of State from the region including the East African Community (EAC) and Inter governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to attend the function," he said.
Safari said conference's aim is also to prepare for a broader conference on Somalia being hosted by Britain on February 23, 2012.
London said in November that the city would host a conference on Somalia in 2012 to pull together international efforts.
"The anti-piracy conference aims to bring together leaders of key partner countries and organisations, both in Africa and beyond, to help galvanise a common approach to address the problems and challenges of Somalia that affect us all," the Foreign Office said then.
"This includes tackling the issues of piracy, extremism and the underlying causes of instability and conflict in Somalia."
He added that conference will set clear targets on the elimination of the vice in the region as well as come up with a financing mechanism to fight the root causes of piracy.
According to Safari, for the first time the region will set up institutions to fight the root causes of piracy which includes poverty inside Somalia that lures many youth into piracy.
"The resolutions of the conference will then be forwarded to the Somali Conference to be held in London slated later in February," the ministry official said.
Safari said that since the Kenya Defence Force (KDF) military incursion into Somali back in October, the country has received a lot of international support including from Arab league, Indian Ocean rim association, IGAD and African Union.
"We expect regional heads of state to attend," Safari. He said the anti-piracy conference is being organised in conjunction with the UN and being coordinated by the office of Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Demanding millions of dollars in ransom for captured ships and their crews, Somali pirates are intensifying operations not just off their own coastline, but further afield in the Red Sea, particularly during the monsoon season in the wider Indian Ocean.
With unprecedented boldness, this August pirates also boarded and hijacked a chemical tanker at anchor in an Omani port, under the protection of coast state security.
But although Somali pirates are initiating more attacks, this year they are managing to hijack fewer vessels.
Only less than 30 vessels were hijacked this year compared with 35 for the same period in 2010. Hijackings were successful in just 12 percent of all attempts this year, down from 28 percent.
The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well- coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket- propelled grenades, maritime officials said.
The Horn of Africa nation has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world's most violent and lawless countries.
Combined Task Force 150, a naval alliance dominated by the United States and based in the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti, is patrolling an area within the Gulf of Aden to help protect ships from pirates.
Somalia News: Pirate hijacking continues By Tristan McConnell (GlobalPost)
As piracy off the coast of Somalia continues, new research studies how these pirates invest money. Piracy emanating from the coast of Somalia is not going away.
News of hijackings ebbs and flows with the monsoon seasons.
The monsoons make the seas too rough for pirate skiffs to navigate for months at a time, but when the storms stop and the waters calm the pirates come out again. Every year. Without fail.
Nobody yet has a solution to the problem. Some countries now permit armed private security guards on vessels flying their flag and many nations have contributed to the three international naval fleets that patrol the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, but this deals with symptoms not causes.
Worth looking out for is this new research from which sets out to track the spending of pirates' ill-gotten gains using satellite imagery. The study will be released on January 12 by the Royal Institute for International Affairs in London.
Pirate Treasure Mapped:
Using Satellite Imagery to Track the Developmental Effects of Somali Piracy
This event will mark the launch of a new Africa Programme Paper by Dr Anja Shortland, which uses recent forms of nightlight emissions and high resolution satellite imagery to look at the effects of piracy on the Somali economy and establish which groups benefit from ransom monies.
The paper demonstrates how pirates appear to be investing money principally in the main cities of Garowe and Bosasso rather than in the coastal communities where pirate activity is located. Dr Shortland argues that the positive economic impacts of piracy are widely spread, so a military strategy to eradicate piracy could seriously undermine local development. She suggests that villages that have gained little from hosting pirates may be more open to a negotiated solution which would be to their benefit.
TIME: Thursday 12 January 2012 16:00 to 17:00 GMT
LOCATION: Chatham House, London
PRESENTER: Dr Anja Shortland, Senior Lecturer, Brunel University
For more information please contact
Tighisti Amare.
Fighting Somali pirates with science By Neal Ungerleider / Fast Company (BCB International)
Piracy is a serious problem in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. While NATO, Russian, Iranian, and Chinese ships all escort merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden, foreign militaries can't be everywhere at once. Ships traveling through dangerous waters often need to create their own improvised anti-pirate defenses … and the market for these products is booming. A variety of arms contractors and boutique manufacturers are producing everything from "stinky water" walls to high-powered water cannons to deter murderous Somali pirates.
One firm, the
International Maritime Security Network, markets an expensive defense package called the "Triton Shield Anti-Piracy System." The integrated product, which includes everything from on-ship security guards to a specialized camera system, also creates a wall of very stinky water. Bloomberg's Julie Bykowicz uncovered an
impenetrable wall of stinky, foul-smelling water that can be deployed by Triton against potential pirate skiffs. International Maritime Security's Ralph Pundt described the smell as that of "a skunk on steroids."
Demo of Triton Shield maritime system design to deter pirates and other attacks.
Lasers can also be used to defend against pirates. Earlier this year, British defense contractor
BAE Systems announced the successful deployment of its prototype
anti-pirate laser. BAE's Laser Distraction system uses a special eye-safe laser that can either provide a visual warning to pirates at distances greater than two kilometers or temporarily disorient attackers at closer distances. Ships can either deploy the Later Distraction system semi-autonomously or have a crew member operate the product.
Meanwhile, fellow British manufacturer
BCB International (which has been featured in Fast Company before for its
miniature drones) markets an anti-pirate air cannon. The
Buccaneer is a lightweight air cannon designed to fire and deploy a net around any small craft trying to board a ship. The cannon has a range of approximately 2,700 feet and fires proprietary projectiles that create a net in the water around the craft. Apart from net projectiles, the Buccaneer also fires high-powered smoke projectiles.
BCB International's Phillippe Minchin told Fast Company that "the use of lethal force should be selected as a 'last resort,' whereas non-lethal protective measures can help to create a 'layered' and proportional defense around a vulnerable vessel or offshore platform. BCB International's Buccaneer launchers utilize compressed air to launch entanglement nets up to 60 meters, which are designed to foul oncoming skiffs' props and therefore disable the attacker before they have a chance to attempt boarding. Usefully, the Buccaneer can also deploy payloads such as smoke cartridges out to 700 meters, which means that like the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) system, it can create an effect on a target well before it comes into close proximity with the vessel."
LRAD systems are frequently used by military and civilian craft to repel pirates. The sonic systems, often deployed by police and military forces at riots worldwide, create an unbearable wall of noise. In 2008, a British cruise ship
successfully used LRAD to repel Somali pirates. LRAD is a proprietary product of the
LRAD Corporation, who make a significant portion of their sales
from commercial shipping.
Fast Company reported previously on the growing use of
advanced technology by Somali pirates. Because pirates have begun using more sophisticated methods to trap shipping vessels — it's not unknown for savvy maritime criminals to track sea traffic via Internet postings — protective measures have changed.
However, according to one expert, the best security is the old-fashioned kind. Jay Bahadur, author of "
The Pirates of Somalia," believes that armed guards are the most important anti-pirate defense. In an email, Bahadur told Fast Company that while "I think there have been some valid counter-piracy technologies developed by defense contractors — the proposed BAE "laser distraction system" comes to mind — but in the end, it comes down to what shipowners can afford. Commercial shipping is one of the most cutthroat industries in the world, and shipowners don't have the budgets to spend on space-age defenses. The recent drop-off in piracy has been due to the increased use of armed guards, not technological innovation, which in turn have been made economically feasible by skyrocketing ransoms and lengthening captivity periods. One insurance company issued a stat a few months back that 80 percent of pirate attacks were being repelled by armed guards, and no vessel employing them has been hijacked."
Additional anti-pirate security devices are expected to be unveiled at the 2012
Transport Security Expo, which will be held in London this coming November.
New IMO Secretary-General Announces Positional Changes to IMO Secretariat (gCaptain)
In one of his first dealings as the new IMO Secretary-General, Mr. Koji Sekimizu of Japan, announced a number of changes in the structure of the IMO Secretariat in order to better address the various issues facing the global maritime industry.
"The biggest challenge I see in the coming years, in terms of management of the Organization, is how to improve the 'delivery mechanism' in the Secretariat to address the demanding issues we face, such as anti-piracy measures, the introduction of the mandatory Member State Audit Scheme and our ever-increasing workload," said Mr. Sekimizu. "To address this will require effective human resource deployment and redeployment, the creation of new ways of handling our work and improvements to our working methods. It will also require close co-operation between the Secretariat and Member Governments."
Among the changes, Mr. Sekimizu has transferred Assistant Secretary-General, Mr. Andrew Winbow, from the Administrative Division to the Director of Maritime Safety Division. Meanwhile, Mr. Jo Espinoza-Ferrey from the Marine Environment Division has been tasked to head the Administrative Division as its Director, and consequentially promoted Mr. Stefan Micallef to the post of Director of the Marine Environment Division.
In dealing with the issue of piracy, Mr. Hartmut Hesse has been appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy Programmes, tasked with taking responsibility for the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct and act as the IMO representative to conferences and meetings dealing with piracy issues. Mr. Hesse, who has been with the IMO for over 20 years, was formerly Senior Deputy Director of the Maritime Safety Division where he acted as liaison with other United Nations (UN) entities and relevant international organizations on counter terrorism issues, particularly the implementation of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy and member of the UN Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), according to his LinkedIn profile.
Mr. Sekimizu has also reorganized the Sub-Division for Implementation and Coordination of the Maritime Safety Division into a Department for Member State Audit and Implementation Support in the Maritime Safety Division with Laurence Barchue appointed to head the new department.
Finally, the Secretary-General also decided to strengthen the functions dealing with internal audit and matters of ethics and appointed Mr. K-R. Min as the Senior Deputy Director in charge of the Internal Oversight and Ethics Office.
Further changes to the IMO Secretariat are as follows:
- Assistant Secretary-General/Director, Maritime Safety Division, A. Winbow
- Assistant Secretary-General/Director, Legal and External Relations Division, R. Balkin
- Director, Conference Division, O. O'Neil
- Director, Technical Cooperation Division, J. Zhu
- Director, Administrative Division, J. Espinoza Ferrey
- Director, Marine Environment Division, S. Micallef
- Special Adviser on Environmental Protection Standards, D. Du
- Head, Department of Member State Audit and Implementation Support, L. Barchue
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy Programmes, H. Hesse
- Senior Deputy Director, Internal Oversight and Ethics Office, K-R. Min
- Head, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, J. Thompson
- Head, Policy and Planning Unit, J. Loldrup
Two Ways to Address the Menace of Somali Pirates By Michael Burleigh (DailyMail)
The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee has issued a damning report on how the Royal Navy is dealing with the menace of Somali pirates.
90% of pirates who are detained off Somalia are given basic sustenance and medical treatment and then released, to commit their depredations once more. This is pathetic.
The main reason why these men are not being returned to this country to face trial for what is an international crime, is that the government knows perfectly well they would immediately attract the usual lawyers' human rights racket and the sympathy of the bleeding heart liberal press. In all likelihood they would not go to jail, and given the chaos that is Somalia, they would probably be granted asylum and welfare too. We'd soon hear that they were all really fishermen led astray rather than the human equivalent of scavenging crows.
Somali pirates number around 3,000 persons. They use mother ships to operate in about 2.5 million square miles of ocean, that is an area roughly the size of Europe. It is lucrative business, for in the last four years, they have raked in £192 million in ransom payments, some of which sticks to the hands of Islamist militants. On shore, a mini-economy has developed, with canteens selling meals to the hundreds of hostage sailors. Unfortunately, as the wife of a shipping owner once explained to me, the international maritime industry is so mercenary (and the crews so marginal) that these men are the last consideration. They are 'just' Pakistanis and Filipinos. The huge ransoms regularly dropped off to the pirates are for the captured ships themselves.
As this shows, the essential problem is that the pirates see no risk in their activities. They get the equivalent of a police caution, and off they sail to try their luck again. We need to drastically up the risk involved.
One popular solution is to allow the Navy, and private security guards, to use lethal force to deter or repel incoming pirates. That should be immediately permitted by the British government, if it is at all serious in tackling this menace, which I doubt. The large mother ships, from which fast pirate skiffs are released, should also be automatically blown up and sunk. If the pirates end up in a lifeboat; so what? The logic of what happened to Osama bin Laden should be extended to these carrion crows of the high seas.
Secondly, since piracy is an international threat (costing huge amounts in terms of ships taking a much longer route to avoid the Horn of Africa) so it must have an international solution.
Rather than depositing captured pirates in some neighbouring country – usually Kenya – to face trial, we should think in terms of interning them as far from their cultural comfort zones as possible. A few years in a labour camp in Arctic Russia would fit the bill nicely, with plenty of opportunities to tell the folks back home how cold and miserable it is. Prisons in Japan or Singapore are not known as holiday camps either. Texas has plenty of spare prison capacity too, and the guards don't have to call you 'Mr'. As an international problem, the solution should be sought wherever it is likely to maximise the risk to the pirates, whose wellbeing is really not a major concern. If we haven't got the will-power simply to shoot them on sight, then off to the icy tundra they should go.
Clarify 'lethal force' piracy defence rules, say MPs (BBC)
Guidelines on when British ships can use "lethal force" against Somali pirates must be clarified, MPs say. Vessels sailing under UK flags have been authorised to protect themselves by employing armed guards after a spate of attacks on international ships and kidnappings in the Indian Ocean.
But the
foreign affairs select committee said ministers must spell out "what is permissible and what is not".
It has also urged the government to review its kidnap response procedures.
This followed criticism from Paul and Rachel Chandler, held hostage by Somali pirates for 13 months, about the Foreign Office's support for their family during their ordeal.
Dangerous waters The Foreign Office said it would respond to the committee's views in due course when it had studied them in depth.
But Foreign Secretary William Hague said a UK-chaired conference on Somalia next month would try to "chart a way forward" for the country's political direction, humanitarian efforts and dealing with piracy.
In their report the cross-party committee said that piracy off the coast of Somalia was a threat to UK national interests as well as a major international problem.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced in October that ships sailing under a British flag would be able to carry armed guards to protect them from pirates – under licence from the Home Office – but only while passing through dangerous waters, such as the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
This marked a change in policy for the UK which had previously discouraged such a move.
The committee welcomed the government's new approach, arguing it was "unacceptable" that a large section of the Indian Ocean had become too dangerous for commercial shipping companies and a virtual "no-go" area for smaller vessels.
"There is a clear need to take decisive action," committee chairman, Conservative MP Richard Ottaway, said.
"Naval forces have had some success but they cannot hope to police such a large area of operation. Ship owners must take responsibility for their own protection and the government must let them do so.
'Stain on world' But Mr Ottaway said much more detail was needed on how UK-flagged vessels could respond, if confronted by pirates.
"The government's guidance on the use of force, particularly lethal force, is very limited and there is little to help a ship's master make a judgement on where force can be used.
"The question anyone would ask is that if a private armed guard on board a UK-flagged vessel sees an armed skiff approaching at high speed, can the guard open fire? The government must provide clearer direction on what is permissible and what is not."
In guidance published last month, ministers stipulated that armed guards would only be permitted if shipping firms followed best practice guidelines on security – including completing a risk assesment and "counter-piracy plan" – and if their presence was deemed likely to "reduce the risk" to the lives of those on board.
More than 90% of global hijackings in 2010 took place off the coast of Somalia, a situation which the prime minister has described as a "stain on the world".
Under United Nations conventions, every ship is subject to the jurisdiction of the country whose flag it carries.
It is thought many British-registered ships already carry armed guards because they feel they have no alternative and, according to the government, no ship carrying armed security has yet been hijacked.
Foreign Office officials believe about half of the 200 vessels flying the red ensign – the British merchant navy flag – which regularly sail close to Somalia were likely apply for the authority to have armed guards.
In their report, the MPs also said the Foreign Office must take heed of the Chandlers' criticism.
The couple, freed last September more than a year after they were taken hostage, while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania, said the assistance offered to their relatives had been "distressingly inadequate".
Committee chairman Mr Ottaway said the government must reconsider how it communicated with relatives of kidnap victims and review other relevant procedures.
The couple, who gave evidence to the committee's piracy inquiry, were released after a ransom of up to £620,000 was reportedly paid to their kidnappers.
'Clear support' The committee said it was concerned that "so little was known" what happened to ransom money paid in Somali piracy cases, which totalled £190m over the last four years.
The UK government had been "disappointingly slow" to take action on the trail of money stemming from ransom payments, given the information available from British companies.
The committee also stressed its view that the battle against Somali piracy could not be won on the seas.
It said the solution to the problem lay in stabilising Somali society – blighted by years of civil war and famine – providing alternative sources of income and ending impunity for piracy crimes.
Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the report's "clear support" for some of the government's policies.
He added: "Britain will continue to work with the UN, African Union, regional partners and the Somali people to build a stable Somalia and through our work with the Department For International Development to build sustainable alternative livelihoods for coastal communities in Somalia."
Fate of ransom payments to pirates unclear (AP)
Too little is known about the fate of millions of dollars in ransom money paid out to Somali pirates and too few hostage takers are being prosecuted, British lawmakers said Thursday in a sharply critical report.
Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned that not enough work is being carried out to trace the route of payments, which topped $135 million in 2011, amid worries some money may be making its way into Britain's financial system.
The panel of legislators — which held hearings with defense officials, maritime lawyers and piracy victims — also found that more than eight out of ten suspected pirates captured off the coast of Somalia are released without trial.
"It is unacceptable that 2.6 million square miles (6.7 million square kilometers) of the Indian Ocean has become a no-go area for small vessels, and a dangerous one for commercial shipping. There is a clear need to take decisive action," committee chairman Richard Ottaway said.
Piracy is rife off the coast of Somalia, and ships are regularly hijacked in defiance of the international naval force that patrols the Indian Ocean. Figures released last month by the European Naval Force showed that more than 2,300 crew members had been taken hostage in the area since December 2008, with some 200 still thought to be in captivity.
Ransoms are routinely paid to secure hostages' release, and the lawmakers' panel said that latest figures from NATO show at least $135 million was paid out last year, compared to around $80 million in ransom payments handed to pirates in 2010.
"It is like being in a housing boom, where your estate agent adds on money for the next house in the street that he is selling," ex-marine and maritime lawyer Stephen Askins told lawmakers in a June hearing.
Lawmakers said that British authorities have been "disappointingly slow to take action on financial flows relating to ransom payments," claiming that little is known about those profiting from piracy.
Government officials had appeared uninterested in information from British firms involved in delivering ransoms to pirates, the report said.
Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement it has a "clear and long-standing policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms."
Though no laws prevent the payment of ransoms, Britain counsels firms against doing so "because we believe that making concessions only encourages future kidnaps," it said.
Lawmakers said the principle was laudable, but should not "extend to the point of failing to collect, analyse, and act upon information concerning ransom payments made by British companies or private individuals."
The ministry said action was being taken against those who finance piracy and to gain "improved understanding of the illicit financial flows of piracy."
Foreign Secretary William Hague said piracy off Somalia's cost "had grown into a major international problem, exacerbating the wider challenges we face in helping Somalia recover from conflict and drought."
The committee's report also called on Prime Minister David Cameron to clear up confusion over the use of weapons on British-flagged ships which encounter pirates.
Cameron in October authorized the ships to carry armed guards on some perilous routes, but did not fully explain what rules would apply on the use of lethal force by private security contractors.
"If a private armed guard on board a U.K. flagged vessel sees an armed skiff approaching at high speed, can the guard open fire?," Ottaway said. "The government must provide clearer direction on what is permissible and what is not."
Cameron will host an international conference in London next month aimed at helping Somalia tackle piracy, militancy and its humanitarian crisis.
"We will use the London conference on Somalia to chart a way forward on the future political direction of Somalia, the vital humanitarian effort and the international community's approach to tackling piracy," Hague said in a statement.
Failure to prosecute pirates beggars belief, say MPs
as its revealed 90% of all suspects are freed without trial By Ian Drury (DailyMail)
Nine out of ten piracy suspects detained
by Royal Navy and other maritime forces are released without trial
Britain's failure to prosecute Somali pirates who attack ships, seize hostages and demand huge ransoms 'beggars belief', a withering Parliamentary report said. Nine out of ten piracy suspects detained by the Royal Navy and other maritime forces in the Gulf of Aden or Indian Ocean are released without trial, according to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Not one pirate has been brought to the UK for prosecution, even though 20 other countries – including the U.S., France, Germany and Belgium – had placed nearly 1,000 suspects on trial. Most of the time armed bandits who prey on merchant ships off the volatile Horn of Africa are returned to their boats and freed. Ministers claim it is difficult to gather suitable evidence because pirates often threw weapons and other equipment into the sea when spotted by anti-piracy patrols. But the committee said the Navy should use photographs or video recordings to build a case against armed pirates. The report, published today said: 'Gathering evidence to secure a successful prosecution for piracy is challenging. 'However, not all claims made by the Government about the difficulty in securing evidence were wholly convincing: when pirates are observed in boats with guns, ladders and even hostages, it beggars belief that they cannot be prosecuted. 'Simply returning suspected pirates to their boats or to land, while it may temporarily disrupt their activities, provides little long term deterrence and has demonstrably failed to prevent an annual increases in both the number of pirates going to sea and in the number of attacks.' MPs on the cross-party committee launched their probe into piracy off the coast of Africa after a British couple were kidnapped by Somali pirates. Paul and Rachel Chandler, originally from Kent but now living in Devon, were seized from their yacht Lynn
Rival near the Seychelles in 2009 and held in Somalia for a year, and released only after a ransom of up to £620,000 was reportedly paid. Seven of the pirates who allegedly held them hostage are currently being tried in Kenya for an attack on a French ship, and could then be extradited for trial in the UK. But despite the Metropolitan Police possessing 'ample' evidence the British Government is still 'negotiating jurisdiction', the report says. The failure to prosecute pirates drew stinging criticism from seafaring organisations. The London-based Chamber of Shipping trade association told the committee: 'The repeated images of pirates being released without trial by naval forces, including the Royal Navy, causes understandable derision.' And the Baltic Exchange, another maritime association based in London, said: 'The UK has gained a degree of notoriety within the international shipping community for its failure to prosecute those caught red-handed in the act of piracy.
'Once captured, pirates caught by UK forces are widely perceived simply to receive sustenance and medical assistance before being returned to the mainland unmolested.' Unacceptable: Richard Ottaway, pictured says failure to put pirates in the dock must be addressed
The Government said the Royal Navy had transferred 28 pirates to other countries, including Kenya and the Seychelles, for prosecution since 2009.
It had released 60 suspects held during boarding operations between April 2010 and November 2011. The 72-page report said the 'plague' of piracy was a 'major concern' that threatened the UK's economy and security. The number of Somali pirate attacks has soared from 55 in 2007 to 219 in 2010.
In that period some 3,500 seafarers have been held hostage, with 62 killed. And between January and March last year (2011) there was an all-time high 97 attacks by pirates against merchant ships – more than 1 a day. Experts estimate there are 3,000 pirates operating from war-torn Somalia who attack commercial vessels from small skiffs or larger 'motherships' using AK47 automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Last year ransom payments hit a record $135million (£86.5million) in 2011.
The global cost of piracy is as much as $12billion (£7.5billion). Up to 200 vessels flying the red ensign – the British merchant navy flag – regularly sail close to Somalia. In October, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain would lift the ban on armed guards being deployed on its merchant fleet. Branding piracy a 'stain on our world', he said security guards would have permission to 'shoot to kill' pirates attacking vessels for their valuable cargos and crews. The Foreign Affairs Committee welcomed the move but urged the Government to clarify when it is legal for British-flagged ships to shoot dead Somali pirates. It also raised the possibility of military personnel being placed on commercial vessels to protect them from pirates. Richard Ottaway, the committee's Tory chairman, said: 'The question anyone would ask is that if a private armed guard on board a UK-flagged vessel sees an armed skiff approaching at high speed, can the guard open fire?
'The Government must provide clearer direction on what is permissible and what is not. 'It is unacceptable that 2.6 million square miles of the Indian Ocean has become a no-go area for small vessels, and a dangerous one for commercial shipping.
'There is a clear need to take decisive action.' The committee also called on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to review its procedures for dealing with British captives' families after the Chandlers criticised the department's support during their 13-month ordeal as being limited to 'tea and sympathy'.
EU Mulls New Powers for Piracy Mission (SfExaminer)
German officials say the European Union is considering expanding the scope of its anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa to allow the destruction of pirates' equipment on the beaches of Somalia.
The EU's anti-piracy force patrols the seas off the coast of the country. Somalia has been mired in violence since 1991 — plunging it into a chaos that sprouted militants and piracy.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said Friday that the "limited destruction of piracy logistics on the beach" is under discussion but "no deployment on land." He stressed that discussions are ongoing and no decision has been made.
Defense Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris said an EU committee on Dec. 20 called for the force's commander to draw up plans for revised rules of engagement.
[N.B.: All reputable analysts agree that foreign naval actions on land in Somalia, which unavoidably would also cause collateral damage among the civilian population in the coastal settlements, where the local people themselves are commandeered by the pirate gangs, will have serious negative consequences and could trigger deadly repercussions against hostage crews.]
EU Anti-Piracy Naval Force to Expand Range of Operation Atalanta Activities (NavalToday)
Extending activities to the beaches of Somalia The European Union's anti-piracy naval force, Operation Atalanta, is reflecting deeply on extending the range of their activities to the beaches of Somalia, where the piracy developments are deemed to be the most intensive.
The EU committee has requested the force's commander to develop plans for revising the rules of engagement between EU forces and Somali pirates. According to the German Foreign Minister Spokesman said the topic of discussion is the limited destruction of piracy logistics on the beach and not a full deployment of forces on land.
Directing the Horn of Africa's anti-piracy mission to the beaches would enable EU forces to destroying the pirates' equipment on the beaches of Somalia instead of just patrolling the seas off the coast.
The spokesman added that no certain decisions have been made however the talks are evolving.
[INTERVIEW]
US Naval Intelligence Discusses Their Role Within the Global Maritime Industry By Rob Almeida (gCaptain)
gCaptain's Rob Almeida, along with Maritime Domain Awareness expert, Cesar Morales, were invited to the headquarters of US Naval Intelligence (ONI) for a meeting with CAPT William Bray, Commanding Officer of the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center, and ONI Counter-Piracy Branch Chief, Brian Green. The primary purpose of this interview was to gain some insight into their operations and the relationship this organization has with the global commercial shipping industry.
Morales: Thank you for having us. I wanted to start off by talking about ONI and its relationship to the maritime industry. Specifically, first of all how would you characterize that relationship and what is it that ONI does for the maritime industry?
Bray: We have a very good relationship with the maritime industry. First of all, Brian and several other employees in the Nimitz [ONI] have backgrounds in the merchant shipping industry. So, we need that detailed and experienced type of person here so we can really understand it. We view the industry as a customer in the sense that strategic trade, maritime trade is an important national interest of the United States. We don't pick favorites. We don't do any sort of analytical intelligence work for any specific company or anything like that. But we do provide a service on threats to the shipping industry as it pertains to general US interests as far as maritime trades goes.
Morales: As far as products that are provided to the maritime stakeholder, what specific products does ONI provide?
Bray: Well, we provide the Piracy Analysis Warning Weekly (PAWW), which is unclassified and goes out to a wide distribution including being sent out to the merchant community at large, which provides a statistical roll-up of piracy, crime on the high seas, threats to shipping, plus some unclassified analytical assessments in there. That's the primary product that ONI delivers to the merchant community on a regular basis. We do, of course, communicate quite frequently and informally with these stakeholders via unclassified channels as we ask questions of them and they ask questions of us.
Green: We have the PAWW, which focuses primarily on the Horn of Africa and Somali pirates, and then the other product is the Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS), which is a worldwide outlook on maritime crime and piracy, and then, as Rob is aware, from time-to-time, we may disseminate a special advisory which would indicate a Somali threat of some kind. Once again, it goes out to a variety of entities, both military and industry recipients.
Morales: And what measuring stick do you use to make sure that these products are actually meeting the needs of the maritime industry?
Green: The analysts here are very talented, very dedicated, and highly motivated in what they do. They very much have a passion for their work. At the forefront of their minds is indications and warnings. I think that's at the heart of intelligence analysis and it definitely applies to piracy and maritime crime. So I think the first measuring stick would be the analysts here being focused and dedicated to what they're doing, and having a feel for what needs to be sent out. And then the second measuring stick I would submit would be the feedback we get from the shippers.
Almeida: What kind of feedback do you get? Do ship owners call you directly?
Green: We get quite a few thank you emails. We've been told that some of the information that we provide to the shipping industry is the "crown jewel" for their monthly or weekly or quarterly reports. I think it's just the general feedback that we get, whether it's from an email or a phone call, if we happen to go to a symposium or some type of event that someone may be at and they realize where we're from, they'll make it a point to say thanks. And quite frankly, there's a mutual respect there. We very much respect what the mariners are doing on the bridge of a ship or in the engine room, like CAPT Bray said, moving that commerce, moving that cargo from Point A to Point B. A lot of times it's DoD cargo and we have a lot of respect for what they do.
Bray: IMB's Piracy Reporting Center puts out a lot of information on their broadcasts. They get information from us and the UKMTO directly, and they have their own sources of information. I actually visited them in Kuala a year ago and sat in there with Mr. Chong and his team, it's a pretty small team, I mean it's not a huge operation, but they have a 24/7 watch and I could sit there and they showed me how they got ONI's information and how they turned it around and put it out there. I think for the shipping industry, especially for the U.S.-flagged community and U.S. citizens, it's of some comfort to know that the entire U.S. intelligence community's capabilities can be brought to bear on an issue that concerns them. That's something that IMB cannot provide. So depending on what the issue is and what is going on, they know that we have access to information and sources of information that are not accessible to the civilian community and we can bring it to bear. And we have on obviously extreme cases like Maersk Alabama, the hijacking last year of the
sailing vessel Quest, which ended tragically, and in many other cases.
So, while we can't share that kind of information directly with uncleared personnel, our ability to assimilate that information informs the assessments we give to them. So, they're getting an all-source assessment. They may not know why we think a certain way. They don't ask questions. They don't need to.
Morales: Sir, that brings me to the next question. How do you overcome the communication challenges faced in a relationship between an intelligence organization and the commercial maritime industry where there isn't a large population of people with clearances? How do you mitigate the challenges of getting them an effective product but still making sure that information meets their needs given their non-classified environment?
Bray: Being able to what we call "down domain" assessments and information to share with foreign intelligence partners, or commercial stakeholders, is a standard practice. It's sort of in our DNA to understand how to go from the highest classification on a particular issue to a classification I can share with – pick a country – and then in many cases all the way down to an unclassified level. We do that with the merchant customers all the time.
You think about
what do they need to know. What concerns do shipping companies, the owners, insurers and actual crews have.
Obviously, everyone's concerned with safety. Safety for life and limb, and property, is of foremost concern. They're also interested in trends. They have to make business decisions about putting guards on, does it financially make sense? So when we can give them trend analysis that can be – we can wash the classifications out of that through various means and just give them sort of an overall holistic assessment of what's going on, that serves one need. From the issue of protecting, indications and warning, that's a fast-moving thing usually, and they don't need to know how we know something.
Morales: You mentioned indications and warnings (I&W). What process is in place to ensure that indications and warnings, as defined by ONI, is the same as what is defined by the customer? What's their daily concern? What's their role between the two in that ONI has their own I&W that feeds the information?
Bray: I don't think that there's really much of a difference. If there's an active threat that we know about we're able to feed that information through, it gets out on the broadcast, we don't need to reveal the source of that information.
Morales: Regarding outreach and engagement with the maritime community, what branch of ONI focuses specifically on engaging with the stake holders and the customers?
Bray: It's definitely Nimitz. Nimitz includes not just Brian's team and the piracy analysts, but people who have an understanding of how the global merchant shipping business works and they use that understanding to serve a particular intelligence need. For example, I have counter-proliferation analysts and they're studying about illicit weapons shipping or precursor materials that could service a WMD program, could be arms shipments in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. In order to understand all that, you have to understanding how the shipping business works and about the cargo and transshipping. They do that. The same thing with counter-narcotics. The whole counter-narcotics division, a lot of it is focused on how the merchant shipping business is used to illicitly to move narcotics, often unwittingly. The shipping owners and crews don't even know it's being used. Really, Nimitz is where all that interaction with the merchant industry takes place.
Morales: From a maritime domain awareness perspective, achieving an effective understanding of the activities on the water, and again, tying it to the engagement, communication, the outreach to the stakeholder community, what does ONI do to ensure that there's a continual effective understanding, given the dynamic nature of the maritime domain? And I know we've sort of touched on a couple of these themes but to sort of wrap it up from an information sharing, a domain awareness perspective and addressing the needs of the stakeholder and the customer, where is ONI's view on meeting these needs?
Bray: Well, I could talk for a long time about MDA. I've got to focus this a little bit. Speaking for Nimitz in particular, I've read almost every MDA policy document I could get my hands on in the last couple of years, and I still don't know what it is.
What is awareness?
We do intelligence. We try to pinpoint threats, threats to the United States, threats to U.S. citizens, long term, short term, immediate, what have you, and that's just good old fashioned intelligence work. Having an awareness of what's on the high seas, is, first of all, you never really know how much of it you have, and secondly you don't have any sort of focused understanding of where the threat is. There are 70,000 merchant ships at any time in the world, commissioned greater than 300 gross tons, you know there's a lot of shipping flowing around the world constantly. It's a massive heart beat of commerce back and forth. And those are just the big ships. If you want to understand the threat to the United States, having some sort of awareness of what's going on 200 miles off the coast of California, at that point it's a little late in the game. You've really got to understand the threat to the United States in tracking the people, the networks ashore that could interface with the merchant community in some way to use it to get to the United States.
It's like the counter-narcotics folks. They're not watching a screen of shipping moving in the Gulf of Mexico or anything, they're getting after the target by understanding the illicit networks through the traditional intelligence sources, whether that's human intelligence, signals intelligence, whatever. They're trying to build an intelligence case and when it crosses that threshold into the maritime industry, you've already got an understanding of what the threat is and how it might be used. You can direct then, some sort of legal authority, whether it's the United States, Mexicans, to interdict and go and find that particular problem. To us that's MDA. That's what it is. I don't know another way to describe it. I have seen lots of money spent to try to find some sort of technical solution to MDA. Quite frankly, I don't think it's been well spent. Its intentions were good but it has not delivered what it's promised.
Morales: Where is the drive for information sharing and information exchange occurring?
Green: So we come here every day to do our job of counter-piracy intelligence analysis. We have to get information. We receive information, analyze it and then disseminate it appropriately to a wide level of customers, everything from national level decision makers and policy makers, to leaders in the Pentagon, the fleet, inter-agency partners, coalition partners, and, as has been spoken at great length here today, the maritime industry. How do we obtain our situational awareness on the water? It's through a variety of intelligence sources, I think we'll leave it at that. We appreciate mariners providing information, in concert with best management practices, about piracy events on the water. This information enables us to understand pirate activity with regard to tactics, procedures, with regard to the trends that we're seeing. In turn, we package this information into weekly unclassified products so we can, in turn, provide information to the industry for them to leverage for situational awareness.
Morales: I appreciate the opportunity to talking with you and for your time. Thank you for your service.
Taiwan mulls armed guards on ships against pirates (AFP)
Taiwan is considering a plan to place armed guards on board local ships that sail in pirate-infested waters, especially off Somalia, officials and media said Tuesday.
"The proposal has been under evaluation, but details of how it can be done have not been finalised," an official at the transportation ministry told AFP, declining to give his name.
Industry officials said the proposed measures would not be implemented until an amendment to the law governing guns and firearms that bars the employment of armed guards on board local vessels.
While awaiting the government's decision, leading shipping firms Evergreen Marine Corp and Yangming Marine Transport Corp have both already taken steps to protect their vessels.
"Since late last year, our company has adopted special security measures on our ships sailing on some routes," a Yangming official said, without providing details.
The Taipei-based Commercial Times said Yangming had hired armed guards from a French company, deploying three on each ship travelling through risky waters near Somalia.
It would be possible for Yangming to do this because the ships are registered overseas and therefore not subject to Taiwan's rules against firearms onboard.
The dangers were highlighted in November when a Taiwanese fishing boat was seized by pirates off eastern Africa.
The 28 sailors on the 290-tonne "Chin Yi Wen" later recaptured their ship from the pirates. Three sailors were slightly injured.
Currently one Taiwanese fishing vessel is in the hands of Somali pirates, the fisheries agency said.
Two decades of lawlessness have carved up Somalia into mini-fiefdoms ruled by gunmen and militia, encouraging rampant piracy.
At least 47 foreign vessels and more than 500 sailors are being held by pirates, according to Ecoterra International, which monitors maritime activity in the region.
Piracy threat prevents passenger line from leaving Maldives By Hawwa Lubna (minivannews)
An American luxury passenger line en route to the Seychelles is stranded in the Maldivian waters due to "piracy risk", while the passengers depart to the Seychelles through airline flights.
Secretary General of Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA), Mohamed Ali, told Minivan News on Sunday that the passenger line had arrived on December 29 and was scheduled to leave the same day after a brief stop near Male'.
However, he said the cruise captain had decided not to leave with the passengers on board due to "security reasons", as there have been several attacks by pirates near the Seychelles.
"To avoid the risk, the 67 passengers on board were taken to Seychelles via Qatar Airways and Emirates last week," Ali said.
As the passenger line is subjected to a daily fee of US$600 as long as it stays in Maldivian waters, he continued, "we are trying to send off the passenger line as soon as possible."
He noted that the crew is taking the necessary security measures to ensure safety from a possible pirate attack.
"There are some maritime security companies which provide security to large cruises or shipping vessels like these. So the passenger line is arranging security before departure," he said.
Pirate activity is predicted to be higher during November to February, with the increased number of cruise ships and yachts travelling this time of the year, according to Ali.
Meanwhile, due to increase in the pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean and the frequent encounters with Somali castaways in Maldivian territory, maritime experts have speculated that the
piracy threat is growing in Maldives.
However, the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has steadily
countered that the country's territorial waters have not come under direct attack from piracy originating in Somalia.
MNDF Spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem earlier told Minivan News that despite small vessels originating from Somalia washing up in the Maldives' territorial waters – often with engineering problems – no reported attacks or activities linked to piracy were believed to have occurred in the country.
According to the Foreign Ministry, 37 Somali "castaways" are under police custody and are waiting for
repatriation. They had been joined by three other Somalis,
discovered last month on board a small dinghy drifting near Gaaf Alifu Atoll.
Potential pirate threats remain a major problem in ensuring the security of the archipelago, which depends on tourism for as much as 90 percent of its economy.
In Somalia, it's a dog's life even for pirates By John Mwazemba (TheEastAfrican)
Narratives featuring strange lands with scintillating beauty, unexpected adventures with buxom brunettes, Gothic gardens with sunken treasures and billowing sails underlie smash hit movie series like Pirates of the Caribbean.
Likewise, when thinking of Somali pirates, we imagine adventure-loving characters emerging from ships, chewing khat and playing with their expensive phones. Indeed, Somali pirates have been painted as "womanisers with lavish tastes and an eye for Nairobi real estate." Yet the pirates of Somalia are a complex phenomenon.
Nuruddin Farah's latest novel, Crossbones, published in September 2011, tells the other side of the story.
Farah wrote in "The Truth about Somali Piracy," that, "Unlike many peoples of the sea — including the Greeks, the Danes, the Swedes and the English — who saw the lucrative potential of piracy and pursued it as a vocation, Somalia did not engage in thievery at sea until recently...
t the same time, untruths about piracy in Somalia are perpetuated in print and on TV and radio. When I visited the country, I discovered that Somali pirates do not live the high life, nor do they receive the sums being mentioned, because much of the money stays either in Abu Dhabi or London, where it is banked."
In Crossbones, Farah doesn't sanitise the pirates who take people's riches and lives. However, he shows how war profiteers make lucrative careers out of chaos as the opening paragraph in the novel aptly captures, "A boy of indeterminate age gets out of a car that has just stopped… He is small in stature, huge in ambition.
On his first day as a draftee into (Al) Shabaab, the instructor, upset with him, had pulled him up by the scruff of his neck, shouting in Somali, 'Waxyahow yar!' – 'You young thing!'…He has no education to speak of, yet he feels he is rich in heavenly vision… No doubt he feels lucky to have been chosen for this delicate assignment cloaked in secrecy, his first mission. He will do anything to impress the commanders of the cell of which he is now a bona fide member".
This young boy, known in the novel as Youngthing, is being used by his recruiters for their selfish ends (it's all about the money!). Farah paints Somali society as one in which people live in extreme conditions — a people exploited and sometimes left with no choice but to comply with the exacting demands of their masters or face death.
Somalia itself has for years been exploited by Western nations. Ships and speedboats from Europe and Asia have plundered the coastline using fishing methods banned elsewhere. These ships would also dump nuclear, chemical and other wastes into Somali waters and at times even shoot Somalis fishing nearby. This is probably what inspired the rise of Somali piracy. The chaos in Somalia has benefited all manner of profiteers, from the Western ships taking advantage of Somalia's statelessness to the Al Shabaab.
In his novel, Farah paints a sad picture of a people living under one kind of slavery or another. Farah uses the character Jeebleh to show this. When Jeebleh returns to his beloved city of Mogadiscio to see old friends, accompanied by his son-in-law, Malik (a journalist), he is surprised because he finds no chaos in the city. However, he soon discovers that the city has an eerie calm enforced by ubiquitous white-robed figures bearing whips. That has been the lot of the Somali people — if it is not the Islamic Courts, it's Al Shabaab or some other shadowy gang with institutionalised irrationalism lording it over them.
In the meantime, Malik's brother, Ahl, comes to Puntland, the region notorious as the pirates' base. Ahl is searching for his stepson, Taxliil, who has vanished from the United States and has been recruited by Somalia's rising religious insurgency. As their search for Taxliil proceeds, Ethiopians invade the country through fierce land and sea raids.
Jeebleh leaves Mogadiscio only a few hours before the Ethiopian invasion. Mogadiscio's uneasy quiet shatters and the city turns into a battle zone, with Malik and Ahl experiencing the unpleasant surprise of war – with bullets whizzing past. This is the environment Somalis have become accustomed to for two decades.
Somalis are a besieged people caught in the unfortunate cycle of zealotry, profiteering and political conflict – even as they live in inhuman conditions and sometimes die due to hunger and disease – while held hostage by armed gangs.
Kenyans must not forget that Somalis are our good neighbours, innocents caught in the crossfire of conflict, and as one of them put it in a recent interview with the media, "We came to Kenya looking for peace."
It is now over 40 days since the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) crossed into Somalia. The Christmas and New Year holidays are usually a good time to spend with one's family. However, for the KDF in Somalia, this festive season will find them dodging bullets, with hands on the trigger and doing everything just to keep alive. As KDF moves deeper towards Kismayu, the government of Kenya has done an excellent job at explaining that Kenya is not at war with the Somali people but Al Shabaab.
For Somalis are a besieged people caught in the unfortunate cycle of zealotry, profiteering and political conflict – even as they live in inhuman conditions and sometimes die due to hunger and disease – while held hostage by armed gangs that are profiting from their misery. It would be fair if Kenyans always remembered that Somalis are our good neighbours caught in the crossfire of conflict and as one of them put it in a recent interview with the media, "We came to Kenya looking for peace".
There could be a few criminals as happens in every society but we should not condemn them wholly – the besieged and innocent people long for our mercy. It's the firebrand radicals that want to turn our nation into a lawless one that we must deal decisively with – these are the ones we must be vigilant about in this festive season.
(*)
The author can be contacted via johnmwazemba[at]yahoo.co.uk
From the SMCM (Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor): (and with a view on news of events with an impact on Somalia)
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 AND NO TO AU AND IGAD MILITARIZATION NO foreign or local military governance on land or foreign 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 as well as the 350nm continental shelf zone. NO to any Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in relief food or Genetically Engineered (GE) seed supplies. Peace cannot be kept by force.
It can only be achieved by understanding.
- Albert Einstein British voice behind a call to arms for Somalia's Islamic terrorists (TerrorFreeSomalia)
A militant Islamist group in Somalia that has declared its allegiance to al-Qa'ida is using a young British man to file video propaganda from the front lines of the country's civil war to try to draw English-speaking Muslims to the Horn of Africa for jihad, The Independent can reveal. The man, who remains masked throughout his videos, speaks in fluent English with a clear London accent and presents breathless reports of battles that the militant groups have fought against Somali government and foreign forces.
Intelligence sources and terrorism experts believe the man was either born in Britain or spent considerable time here and that he may have even had some media training before heading abroad to join the militant network.
The Independent has collected at least three videos in which the man features. The first – which runs for 11 minutes and is titled "African Crusaders" – was released in June 2010 and only contains the man's voice. A second 21 minute long video – "Mogadishu – the Crusader's Graveyard" – was released a month later and shows the young reporter appearing with his face covered in front of burning tank that he claims was destroyed by Islamist fighters.
He disappeared from Al Shabaab propaganda videos until October this year when he returned with a new documentary called "Battle for Deyniile – the Burundian Bloodbath". The 33-minute report features footage from the front lines of a recent battle between militants and African Union peacekeepers on the outskirts of Mogadishu in which a number of AU troops were known to have perished. Shabaab fighters display the uniformed corpses of at least twenty fighters that they claimed belonged to the Ugandan and Burundian peacekeeping forces currently in control of central Mogadishu.
The documentaries – which were all released through Shabaab's media wing the al-Kataib Foundation – are a vivid example of the slick propaganda now being produced by violent Islamists in the Horn of Africa and their determination to turn the area into a new base for international jihadists.
Britain has become so concerned about the deteriorating security situation inside Somalia that it has convened a summit for February to discuss what to do about the failed state. MI5 head Jonathan Evans has repeatedly warned that the Horn of Africa has become the second most popular terrorist training ground after Pakistan with Brits of Somali, Pakistani, Yemeni, Bangladeshi and North African heritage flocking there.
Whitehall sources believe that there are between three to four people working full time on Shabaab's media wing, one of whom is a Yemeni who previously worked with al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula. A second individual is a British Pakistani – thought to be the reporter who appears in the videos.
The group's latest output represents a tactical shift in the way militant networks are producing their propaganda in that the more recent productions are presented as objective news reports, mimicking the way mainstream news organisations present information.
"Instead of featuring a field commander what we're seeing is supposedly a journalist reporting the facts on the ground in a dispassionate way whilst manipulating the narrative to his group's advantage," said Bruce Hoffman, a leading expert on Islamist terrorism at the University of Georgetown. "You wouldn't put Shabaab in the top bracket within the pantheon of terror groups when it comes to strategies or tactics. But their communication techniques are highly sophisticated."
The Independent sought comment from al-Shabaab through an email account known to be used by the militants for international enquiries. In a statement the group said their aim was to inspire Muslims in the West: "We are not able to reveal the identity or nom de guerre of the person in question but the aim of our English documentaries is quite simple. With most journalists serving merely as subservient vessels at the hands of warmongers and politicians, the purpose of the Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen's documentary films is to reveal the reality of the current warfare in Somalia to the world and, in particular, to the Muslims living in the Western world."
The statement added: "It is our hope that these English documentaries will enlighten the Muslims by illuminating the reality of the so-called war on terror and help further elucidate the events as they really are on the ground –not as they are erroneously portrayed in the western media."
Shabaab are a brutal off-shoot of the comparatively moderate Islamic Courts Union which brought a semblance of calm to Somalia after 20 years of fighting but was thrown out of in 2006 following a US-backed invasion by Ethiopian troops.
The militant group controls large tracts of southern Somalia and has fought a vicious insurgency against the country's beleaguered and highly unpopular transitional government whose writ extends little further than the capital Mogadishu. They promote a draconian interpretation of Sharia law and have pledged allegiance to al-Qa'ida and its philosophy of waging violent jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate.
After withdrawing their fighters from the capital in August, they have shifted to more asymmetric tactics such as suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. A spate of kidnappings hit northern Kenya prompting Nairobi to invade from the south claiming that they would eradicate Shabaab. Ethiopia's military has invaded once more from the north but there has been little sign so far of any palpable military successes against the militants who have called on help in repelling "infidel crusaders".
Fearing Somalia is becoming a new gathering point for international jihadists, the United States has increased drone strikes within the Horn of Africa operating out of bases in Djibouti, southern Ethiopia and the Seychelles.
The exact number of foreign fighters within Shabaab's ranks is currently unknown but western intelligence agencies have watched with alarm as both hardened veterans and new foreign recruits have flocked to the area.
In early October two 18-year-old Brits from Cardiff were arrested on the Kenya-Somalia border in what the Kenyan police claimed was an attempt to join up with Shabaab militants. One of the teens was of Somali extraction, whilst his friend was believed to be British-Pakistani.
Abdirhman Haji Abdullah, the father of the Somali-British man, gave an interview to BBC Somali in which he claimed his son had been "brainwashed".
"My son was misled into believing that he was fighting in a holy war," he said. "He was brainwashed and taken away from us and he was told that he was going to fight a holy war in Somalia."
The pair were arrested and returned to Britain only because Mr Abdullah went after his son and alerted the authorities.
Intelligence analysts have commented that Somalia has become an attractive destination for international militants because it is much easier to infiltrate than other militant strongholds such as Iraq, the Afghan-Pakistan border and Yemen.
Shabaab's increasingly sophisticated propaganda releases, meanwhile, have coincided with the arrival of international jihadists and much of the output from al-Kataib is now squarely aimed at recruiting fighters from overseas. Earlier this month the group even appeared on Twitter with an account that has been used to release passport photos of slain African Union troops and taunt the Kenyan military with jibes.
Shabaab has made no secret of its desire to welcome foreign fighters. One recent video features masked militants speaking in an array of languages including English, Swahili, Swedish and Urdu. One fighter, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Dujana, claims he is British and speaks with a heavy London accent. Sitting on a white beach, he calls on Muslims "that are living in the lands of disbelief, the lands of oppression, to (migrate) to the land of glory, to the land of (power) to the land of jihad."
The militant group has also released a number of rap-songs by Omar Hammami, a middle class American with Syrian parentage from Alabama who became increasingly devout and travelled to Somalia for jihad. Within jihadi circles he is known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki and is frequently lauded by militants as an example that western Muslims should follow.
Following the death of Osama bin Laden, Hammami appeared in a video alongside senior Shabaab leaders and read a speech to honour the slain al-Qa'ida founder.
Roger Middleton, an expert on Somalia at Chatham House, said he believed Shabaab's use of a British journalist to present their side of the conflict is part of a wider strategy to encourage recruits from the West.
"This guy is turning up more and more often in Shabaab releases," he said. "It's difficult to gauge what kind of effect he has had. The general consensus is that the number of British Somalis heading to join Shabaab are in their tens rather than their hundreds. But you do hear stories within the Somali community of young men just disappearing and the family later finding out that they have been killed fighting for Shabaab."via
The Independent Kenyan troops 'kill 60 al-Shabab fighters' in Somalia (BBC)
Kenyan military forces have been operating inside Somalia since October
The Kenyan army says it has killed 60 Somali al-Shabab militia fighters in air strikes and is determined to "break their spine completely".
A further 20 of the Islamist fighters defected in recent weeks, army spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna told reporters in the Kenyan capital.
But al-Shabab responded by promising to defeat the Kenyans.
It is extremely hard to verify reports from inside Somalia and the two sides' versions of events differ widely.
While the Kenyan army has captured ground, progress has been slow, partly because of poor weather, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Nairobi.
However, a recent incursion into Somalia by Ethiopian troops has further increased pressure on the militants.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than 20 years and has been torn by fighting between various militias.
In another development, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has warned that Kenya is currently on the alert for a terrorist attack.
It has asked British citizens to "exercise extra vigilance and caution in public places and at public events".
Police caution Kenyan air strikes hit al-Shabab positions in Garbaharey in southern Somalia's Gedo region, according to Col Oguna. As well as losing "60 or more" fighters, the militia suffered 50 injured, he said.
"We will keep hitting them until their spine is completely broken... and we will relish that moment," the Kenyan spokesman added.
"The resistance from al-Shabab is crumbling, there is division within the al-Shabab leadership," he said.
In a message on Twitter, al-Shabab said the Kenyan military intervention was "rapidly rolling down a path towards an ignominious end endured by all previous invaders".
In Nairobi, a Kenyan police spokesman warned that the militia were still a threat.
"We don't believe that al-Shabab activities are totally neutralised," Eric Kiraithe told reporters.
'Liaison officers' Al-Shabab has denied involvement in raids on Kenya's coast last year which targeted foreign tourists and threatened a valuable industry for the country.
In response, Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October.
Ethiopia sent its forces across the border in November, driving al-Shabab out of the strategically important central town of Beledweyne and forming a new front against the militia.
Col Oguna said Kenya had exchanged liaison officers with the Ethiopian army since they both faced a common enemy but the two fronts remained separate.
"The Ethiopians... might ease pressure because al-Shabab will be spread out with more enemies to fight, but they have their operation, and we have ours," he added.
A third force confronting al-Shabab is a 10,000-strong African Union contingent made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti.
Its task is to defend Somalia's Western-backed government from al-Shabab in the capital Mogadishu.
Somali insurgents deny Kenyan claim of 60 killed in air strike By Michael Logan and Mohamed Odowa (dpa)
A top official from Somalia's Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab on Sunday denied claims the Kenyan military killed at least 60 insurgents in an air strike.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia to fight al-Shabaab in October, after a spate of kidnappings on Kenyan territory which Nairobi accuses the Islamist rebel group of carrying out.
Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir, using his twitter feed, said that over 50 insurgents were killed and 60 injured in the bombing raid on a camp near the town of Garbaharey, southern Somalia, on Friday. Colonel Cyrus Oguna, speaking to media on Saturday, upped the estimated death toll to 60.
Senior al-Shabaab commander, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali, known as Abu Mansour, on Sunday confirmed an attack had taken place, but accused Kenya of lying about the number of dead.
"There were not 60 al-Shabaab troops killed," he told dpa by telephone from an undisclosed location, without revealing how many deaths were caused. "The infidels of Kenya circulated false information to cover up the casualties of their own ground forces, who are facing heavy resistance from our fighters."
An elder in the town of Garbaharey, who did not wish to be named, told dpa that air strikes definitely took place on Friday, but was unable to give any casualty figures.
It is difficult to independently verify such claims. Both sides issue wildly varying casualty figures for the same battles, and the Kenyans do not reveal how they come to their totals despite having no troops on the ground at the location of air strikes.
The October offensive initially stalled due to bad weather, but Kenya has used its air power to harass al-Shabaab, targeting bases across southern Somalia, and is now beginning to press harder on the ground.
The insurgents have threatened to launch terror attacks in Kenya in response, and the British Foreign Office on Saturday warned its citizens to take extra care in the capital Nairobi.
"We believe that terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks," it said in a statement. "Attacks could be indiscriminate and target Kenyan institutions as well as places where expatriates and foreign travelers gather, such as hotels, shopping centres and beaches."
Security has been stepped up in Nairobi, with guards checking shoppers and cars for explosive devices at the cities upmarket shopping malls.
Al-Shabaab began its insurgency in early 2007 following Ethiopia's invasion to oust an Islamist regime, but has been on the back foot this year as it faces pressure from Kenya, pro-government forces and African Union peacekeepers.
The insurgents have been forced out of most of the capital Mogadishu, and have been ceding ground across the rest of the country.
SOMALI PARLIAMENT DEMANDS RECALL OF UN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE (SMCM)
In an eight page Aide Mémoire (Ref. XGKB/237/12 - 03. Jan. 2012) addressed to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon the Somali parliamentarians stated:
The TFP is of the opinion that HE could arrest the precipitous failure of [the] TFG by undertaking two daring steps:
1. Recalling HE's Special Ambassador - Mr. Mahiga immediately.
2. Replacing him by a Trio, that should collectively deal with the problem. The TFP believes that, because this post [is] so important and powerful, it could not be left to the whims and caprices of a single person. The TFP further advises that the Trio be preferably composed of an African, an Arab and a European. [N.B.: A pdf-file of the signed original, which has been copied to all relevant political entities can be obtained by sending a request by e-mail to office@ecoterra-international.org] The Election of the New Speaker By Awad Ahmed Ashareh (SMCM)
On the 4th of January 2012, the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia has elected Hon. Madobe Nunow Mohamed, former Minister of Constitution and Federal Affairs. Hon. Madobe received 269 votes from the 287 Members of Parliament who attended the Parliamentary session on that date, despite the trails of the former Speaker to disrupt the planned session for the election of the Speaker. On that session there were 21 MPs, supporters of the former speaker, constantly disturbing and adapting tactics to paralyze the functioning of the Parliament. They refused to be checked by the security to sign attendance register. They tear down the attendance sheets and forcefully entered the meeting chambers by force. These attacks usually happened after they realized the prevailing of the quorum for the session has been reached. The unlawful tactics by the supporters of the former speaker had brought a bad image to the Parliament, but we hoped by taking the right measures and applying the appropriate legal course in compliance with the charter and the rules of the procedure will readdress the damage. These MPs will face a disciplinary action conducted by the disciplinary committee of the Parliament who will decide the damages and misconduct behavior of the MPs and their findings will be submitted to the Parliament for debate. The President and the Cabinet Security Council has nullified the election of the new speaker but they have forgotten that Somalia at present the main pillar is the Parliament who has elected the President and gave a vote of confidence to the government. Their joint statement absolutely contravene with the charter article 33 paragraph F, which stipulates the Parliament to introduce and legislate rules of procedure which establishes the election of the speaker and his deputies as well as other officials and staffs of the Parliament. In order to make more clear and transparent about the removal of the former Speaker we reiterate the accusations against him. 1. Not adhering and respecting the separation of powers among Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) being the Parliament, Government, Judiciary and the Presidency; 2. Failed to let the Parliament convene ordinary sessions to promote and undertake its national tasks, duties and responsibilities; 3. Failed to establish the administrative organs of the Parliament for the recording acts and bills, preparing the annual expenditure statement and derailed the ongoing work of the Parliamentary Committees. He became a great obstacle and impediment to the Executive arm which resulted in conflict of interest between the government and Parliament. For example, is the Kampala Accord which he participated and signed the accord which compelled the Prime Minister to resign; 4. He has been accused of directly contacting of governments and diplomats; a tasks that does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary system; 5. Appointment of Parliamentary staff and sending delegates abroad without using proper channels as outlined in the rules of procedures and standing orders of the Parliament; and 6. He failed to settle the arrears (debts) of membership contributions to the regional and international organizations like Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) The speaker was equally accused of not setting the above mentioned sessions agenda which is a proof that he had completely paralyzed the functions of the Parliament and failed to publish the annual activities of the Parliament. The motion against the Speaker was signed by 158 MPs on 28/11/2011 in Mogadishu. The agenda of the way forward 1. The road map in which the government failed to submit on 19/12/2011; 2. Evaluation and assessment report on the on-going war against Al-Shabab as well as the conditions of the forces for their logistical aspect and equipment, and overall, situation and the moral of the forces; 3. The situation of the IDPs particularly programs of their resettlement and the refugees in the neighboring countries as well as those who are in the Diaspora particularly the Arab States which are mostly affected by the Arab spring; 4. The review of the annual budget of the 2011 which was supposed to be submitted to the Parliament on June 2011 by the Auditor General; 5. The piracy issue that had cost it an international concern, endangered the flow of the trade to the East and West and vice versa, and the program for rehabilitation of the misguided youth; 6. The rights of the civil servants and forces personnel according to the civil servants law and forces regulating personal laws which calls for secure salaries and other established benefits; 7. The establishment of the judiciary system to make the courts and other law enforcement bodies to provide protection and stability and abolish lawlessness which is prevailing presently in Somalia. Hence the government has to take the appropriate steps to strengthen the independency of the judiciary system; and 8. The government had failed to submit the annual ordinary budget of 2012 which must be submitted to the Parliament three months before the end of the year, according to the state financial procedures and regulations of 1961 and slightly amended in 1970 by the revolutionary government. It is quite apparent that the government is not operating in transparency and accountability fashion as it failed to empower the Central Bank, Accountant General and the Auditor General. The Parliament will be working around the clock to compensate for the time lost by the last three years, regardless that the Parliamentarians are not getting any sitting allowances from the various bodies that promised to pay their sitting allowances and other benefits. (*) Hon. Awad Ahmed Ashareh, MP, is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Information, Culture, Public Awareness and Heritage of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Fistfight erupts in Somali parliament (AFP)
Fistfights erupted in Somalia's parliament late Wednesday as lawmakers elected a new speaker in a move condemned by the troubled nation's president as "null and void".
Several supporters of Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan - sacked as speaker in a controversial move last month by 280 MPS - were injured in the latest of several parliamentary brawls.
The MPs were beaten by colleagues during the rowdy vote but despite the violence a majority of 287 lawmakers chose Madobe Nunow from five other candidates.
"The lawmakers gave their majority votes to Madobe Nunow who replaces the former speaker, and from now on the new speaker will lead parliament," said Ahmed Dhimbil Roble, deputy speaker and chair of the session.
But the election was denounced by the national security committee, chaired by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
"After reviewing the current security and political situation of the country and the chaos in the parliament, the National Security Committee decided that the session of today - and others it followed - have no legal foundation," a committee statement said.
"All of its outcomes are null and void."
The apparent inability of Somalia's transitional leadership to conduct even its own parliament peacefully offers a grim prospect for the war-torn nation, where elections are due August under a UN-backed deal.
The writ of the Western-backed government, which controls only Mogadishu with the capital defended from al-Qaeda linked Shabaab rebels by a 10 000-strong African Union force, will then expire.
The MPs who sacked Adan in December were upset that he had not convened the 550-seat parliament for two months. His reasons for doing so remain unclear, and he has denounced the sessions as illegal.
Fistfights are common in Somalia's unruly parliament, where lawmakers have even pulled guns on each other.
Adan, who has difficult ties with the president, also held the speaker's chair between 2004 and 2007. He retook the post in 2010 after a political dispute forced his predecessor from office.
AU asks UN to increase peacekeeping force in Somalia to 17,700 (AFP)
The African Union on Thursday asked the United Nations to authorise an increase of its peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia by 5,700 to 17,700 amid mounting attacks by Islamist rebels.
Monica Juma, Kenya's ambassador to the UN, made the announcement. The African force, called AMISOM, has been functioning under UN mandate since 2007 in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
"The highlights were: the need to increase the AMISOM troops from 12,000 to 17,700, the need to fast track the creation of an administrative unit in the liberated areas," Juma said, after presiding over a meeting of the AU's Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital.
She also highlighted the need for "logistical support in order to optimise the capability of the AMISOM troops", and to beef up the "capability of the TFG (transitional government forces) and allied forces in order… to begin to create a Somalian security force."
Regional states strive to battle the extremist Shebab insurgents who control much of southern Somalia.
The AMISOM currently comprises Djiboutian, Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, who have been deployed since 2007 to protect the Western-backed government from the Shebab in the war-shattered capital.
The hardline insurgents control large parts of southern Somalia but are facing increasing pressure from regional armies and government forces, with the rebels leaving fixed positions in Mogadishu in favour of guerrilla tactics.
The AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said the African forces were now in a position to quell both the Shebab and the pirates.
"Whatever investment the international community is ready to make for Somalia, it would be really serving both causes. And in the same time assist nation building and a post-conflict peace consolidation," he said.
In October, Kenya sent tanks and troops into southern Somalia to fight the Shebab militia which Nairobi blames for a series of cross-border attacks and kidnappings of foreigners.
Ethiopian soldiers were reported to have crossed into western Somalia in November, although Addis Ababa has denied its forces crossed the border.
Eritrea has been accused of backing the hardline Shebab, although it too denies any involvement in the conflict.
Somalia has been ravaged by a nearly uninterrupted civil war since the 1991 ouster of president Siad Barre sparked vicious bloodletting by rival militias fighting for power.
In the latest move to return stability, Somali leaders in September signed a UN-backed agreement to improve security, adopt a new constitution and hold polls by August 2012 when the life of the current transitional government expires.
Somalia: Ethiopian troops 'to hand over to AU force' (BBC)
Ethiopia is to withdraw from areas it has recently captured in neighbouring Somalia with its troops to be replaced by African Union (AU) soldiers.
The decision was made by the AU's Peace and Security Council, which met to finalise boosting its Somali force.
It wants the UN to approve a new figure of 17,731, which would include the absorption of Kenyan troops.
They entered the country in October in pursuit of al-Shabab militants, who control much of southern Somalia.
The al-Qaeda-linked group is now battling on several fronts, with forces from Kenya and Ethiopia, as well as local militias, taking ground recently.
The UN-backed interim government only controls the capital thanks to the AU force (Amisom) in Mogadishu.
Ethiopia originally sent troops to Somalia in 2006 to oust Islamist forces but withdrew in 2009 after suffering heavy casualties.
Their presence was particularly controversial in Somalia because the two countries fought a border war in the 1970s.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than 20 years and has been wracked by fighting between various militias.
'Strengthen gains'
Ethiopia took the strategically important central town of Beledweyne from al-Shabab in December, nine months after resting the border town of Bulo Hawo from the group.
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali is in Beledweyne on Friday - a rare visit outside the capital, which correspondents say shows the government's growing confidence in its fight with al-Shabab.
The AU said its plans for strengthening Amisom would boost "gains made on the ground".
Amisom troops would occupy "areas liberated with the support of Ethiopia, in view of the urgency of the stated intent of Ethiopia to withdraw from those areas", a statement said.
Djibouti would also be sending a total of 5,700 soldiers to join Amisom - up from 1,500 originally agreed - of which 200 are already in Mogadishu, the AU said.
No mention was made in the comminque of a 1,500-strong contingent promised earlier by Sierra Leone.
A UN-brokered peace conference at the time of Ethiopia's withdrawal from Somalia in 2009 saw the election by MPs of moderate Islamist president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
But it has been dogged with factional infighting - and the UN Security Council has said it will withdraw its funding for it unless there are serious effort to meet an August 2012 deadline to draw up a political roadmap, which should lead to elections for a new president and parliament.
Al-Shabab, which has imposed strict Sharia law in areas it controls, announced a "tactical withdrawal" from Mogadishu in August after fierce fighting with AU forces.
It has denied allegations that it was behind a spate of kidnappings from Kenya soil and said it regarded Kenya's incursion as an invasion.
N.B.: All Somali Parliamentarians of the TFG we spoke to stated that such statements as the one below are mere phony signals, but since the renewed Ethiopian invasion had no consent from the Somali Parliament it is illegal warfare and such statements surmount to treason, according to the lawmakers, who insist that the Somali sovereignty and its legal institutions must be respected by all means.
Puntland Government Welcomes Ethiopia Intervention in South-Central Somalia (Puntland State of Somalia - Garowe - PRESS RELEASE - 01 January 2012)
Puntland Government Welcomes Ethiopia Intervention in South-Central Somalia
The Government of Puntland State of Somalia welcomes the Ethiopian military
intervention in parts of south-central Somalia to bolster the ongoing Somali-led military
campaign to remove Al Shabaab terrorists from all regions of Somalia.
Ethiopia's intervention is in line with the request of the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), noted in a November 2011
Communiqué calling upon Ethiopia "to support the Kenyan-TFG and AMISOM
operation" to help stabilize Somalia. Puntland Government welcomes the Ethiopian
intervention in support of Somali forces engaged in liberating the central regions
bordering Ethiopia and Puntland State from Al Shabaab terrorist group and their foreign
fighter allies.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian intervention is part of a wider campaign led by Somali
stakeholders – TFG, Puntland State, Ahlu Sunna group, and local communities in southcentral
regions – and backed by the African Union and Kenya.
Puntland Government does not see the Ethiopian military intervention as a violation of
Somali sovereignty, as the security interest of the whole IGAD region is inter-connected.
As terrorist groups pose a great threat to the peace, security and stability of Somalia and
the wider region, it remains vitally important to implement a comprehensive and
coordinated strategy to eliminate the terrorist threat in the whole region.
— END —
Puntland Islamic scholars hold conference on Al Shabaab (Garowe Online)
Islamic scholars in Puntland State of Somalia have held a conference in the commercial capital Bossaso, blaming Al Shabaab for spilling blood of many Somalis, Radio Garowe reports.
The Islamic scholars held the meeting in Al Rowda mosque in Bossaso where many hundreds gathered to hear Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah speak on Al Shabaab's ideology and how their thinking is detrimental to Puntland's society.
Sheikh Abdulkadir told the audience if Al Shabaab was fighting for Somalis then why would they kill our most prominent scholars. Sheikh Abdulkadir was speaking about the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman who was gunned down near his home in Bossaso on 5 Dec. 2011. Puntland officials said police have arrested seven Al Shabaab suspects for killing Sheikh Ahmed Haji Abdirahman. READ:
Scholar's killers have been caught, says Puntland security minister "Al Shabaab is responsible for killing our scholars. The actions of Al Shabaab go against our Islamic religion. They want to label everyone 'infidel' and to mislead our youth," said Sheikh Abdulkadir, adding that our youth want peace, stability, marriage, and employment, instead of "endless violence and intentional misinterpretation of our holy religion."
Hundreds of youth are attending the Islamic lectures at Al Rowda mosque in Bossaso.
There has been an outpouring of support for the Islamic scholars in Puntland State who are opposed to Al Shabaab's terror. More scholars are speaking out against the actions of Al Shabaab and informing people that Al Shabaab's beliefs are un-Islamic.
The conference opened Saturday and will run for three days with some of the well-known Islamic scholars in Somalia attending and lecturing, including Sheikh Dahir Aw-Abdi and Sheikh Ahmed Abdisamed.
In a context of late capitalism, what to make of Kenya's confusing adventure in Somalia? By Paul Goldsmith (TheEastAfrican)
Kenya's invasion of Somalia coincided with a number of other domestic conflicts: Rearguard contestation of the new Constitution, agitation in labour markets, dramatic demolitions of rich and poor citizen's homes, and a secessionist movement at the Coast.
The radical departure from the nation's foreign policy appeared to be one of those defining moments — except for the fact that two months after the army entered Somalia, it still lacks clear definition.
If anything, it's downright confusing. Other military interventions in Somalia since 1993 only aggravated the country's unstable internal equilibrium.
The liberation of southern Somalia will only free Al Shabaab to pursue the strategy advocated by Fazul Mohammed before his demise at a Mogadishu roadblock: Go underground and resume attacking enemy targets across the larger region.
Hence the question: Why go to "war" now? Does Kenya's invasion of Somalia on October 18 signify a tipping point in the Horn of Africa's power relations, does it hide more familiar motives, or are there other factors at work here?
The first hypothesis invokes the "tipping point" concept articulated by complexity theorists and popularised by Malcolm Gladwell. Analysts noticed that although a system often remains rigid in the face of conventional drivers of change, this is only a prelude to the accumulation of feedback, which at a certain "point," precipitates a wave of cascading forces that sweep over and either break up or fundamentally reconfigure the system.
The collapse of Syad Barre's government was such an event, resulting in the state of Somalia reverting to its component parts — clans and sub-regions. The outcome, often treated as a distinctively Somali deviation from the international system of states, was only an extreme permutation on similar developments across the "crescent of crisis." The trend resurfaced in northern Uganda, eastern Congo, South Sudan, Darfur, Eritrea, southern Ethiopia, the Ogaden, and areas of Kenya.
The big picture includes the rise of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other Islamist insurgencies. Al Shabaab's decline, in contrast, conforms with a larger pattern signifying their inexorable decline.
The resurgence of people power exemplified by events on the Arab street is a more evolved reaction to governmental malfeasance and the influence of long-entrenched political and economic elites.
The success of North African religious parties at the polls is more about equitable fiscal management than anti-Western ideology.
These developments militate against viewing the invasion through the war-on-terror optic. Valid answers require we ask the right questions. For example: After several days of meetings with sundry government agencies and departments during his 1978 visit to Washington D.C, Barre turned to his aides and asked, "Can anyone tell me who really is in charge here?" Barre's dilemma in Washington presaged a similar inability of world leaders to understand developments in post-state Somalia.
Who are the bad guys? The real question was and still is what as in what are the forces driving the turbulence engulfing our shrinking planet? This "what" includes accelerated demographic growth in the developing world, climate change, structural poverty amid widening economic inequality, industrial nations' quest to secure future supplies of energy and vital resources, and the increasing ubiquity of ICT and global media.
The blowback generated by these factors explains why various social movements, ethnic coalitions, and armed rebels are, after decades of repressive and exclusionary governance, choosing to either capture the state, to de-link from it, or otherwise seek greater control over their resources and lives.
The post-1991 socio-cultural pathologies witnessed in Somalia are, to a large degree, the product of self-interested interference in the nation's internal affairs. Economic interests underpin the resilience of Somalia's Salafi activists and pirates.
The persistence of stateless regions where autonomous entities like Islamist insurgents, ethnic militias, and criminal syndicates threaten and prey upon the international order represents a tipping point of its own.
The messy wars, insurgencies, and lawlessness erupting during the new millennium are the flip side of the neoliberal economic policies responsible for unleashing waves of international capital and commercialisation across the planet. The global agents of this "late capitalism," which Marx described as the stage where "the only thing that counts is money," range from governments and warlords to corporations and drug cartels.
Africa is the last frontier for many natural resources required by the industrial world, but the patchwork of lawless regions across the greater Horn of Africa raises the risk for the investment needed to access and exploit them.
Taming Somalia is part of a grander project that includes facilitating international access to oil, minerals, and large tracts of land.
In an expose sub-titled White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys, investigative journalist Keith Harmon Snow links names like Pierre Falcon, Marc Rich, John Bredenkamp and other notorious fixer-entrepreneurs to the alphabet soup of militias terrorising Central Africa over the past decade. The host of more respectable actors whom he also implicates obliterates any distinction between white hats and black hats.
Is the new Uganda-Ethiopia-Kenya troika likely to promote the pacification of the Horn's large swathes and pockets of stateless territory? Kenya's ambivalent intervention was defensible from many perspectives; but when viewed from the prism of late capitalism, it appears to be more about other material incentives.
The Islamic Courts Union and Al Shabaab succeeded by negating the pull of Somalia's clans; restoring this dynamic is hardly likely to catalyse the pent-up forces of system change. Don't expect much good to come out of the creation of Jubaland and balkanisation of the territory by neighbouring states.
This end game looks like a return to square one for the majority of poor Somalis.
The appeal of Islamist radicalism peaked in 2003. The red in tooth and claw US neo-con inspired foreign policy countering it expired with the May 1 mission that terminated Osama Bin Laden. Back in Kenya, military intervention is providing a convenient excuse for dodging burning domestic issues.
This region's real war is against political impunity and failed governance, not feeding the cascading forces that may become a tsunami reconfiguring the map of East Africa. Kenya appeared to be making progress on the former front before the October 18 diversion.
(*) Paul Goldsmith is a researcher based in Meru, Kenya
By Abdi Latif Dahir (UPI)
The Twitter account of a Somali militant group threatening stability in the horn of Africa has garnered a surprise following among social media devotees in Kenya.
"Yes, I am following them, out of curiosity," said Sumeya Ali, a student at the United States International University in Nairobi. "They say keep your enemies closer. So, I guess that would be one of the main reasons why I am following them."
The al-Qaida affiliated group al-Shabaab joined Twitter in December with an introductory post that quoted the first verse of the Koran. Since then the group has used the social media site to issue a litany of taunts directed at the Kenyan army, which is engaged in a battle with al-Shabaab along the Somali border.
Analysts suggest that al-Shabaab is using Twitter as a platform to help amplify its victories, downplay its defeats and show that it has a bead on modern technology.
"Related to this is al-Shabaab's recognition of the fact that modern warfare is not only fought with guns and missiles but with information-sharing and projection as well," said Andrews Atta-Asamoah, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi. "Joining Twitter is an attempt to basically take this to the virtual world."
In little over a month, Al-Shabaab's Twitter account has attracted nearly 8,000 followers, a close survey of which reveals a cross section of Kenyan society. Physicians, journalists, students, engineers, casting agencies, lawyers and youth groups are among those keeping tabs.
Natasha Wanjiru, a university student who follows the Twitter feed, said the al-Shabaab social media presence came as a shock to her.
"There is a stereotype that al-Shabaab just sit in caves and plan attacks," Wanjiru said. "They seem very aware of what is happening around the world."
In recent weeks, the Twitter page, which is written in English, has showcased a war of words between al-Shabaab and the official spokesman for the Kenyan military, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir.
"The formidable Somali terrain has subdued the vicarious thrill KDF [Kenya Defense Forces] boys got from war movies; the bullets, they've realized, are real here!" reads an al-Shabaab's post from Dec. 11.
"Life has more meaning than denying women to wear bras," Chirchir replied, referring to al-Shabaab's practice of flogging women caught wearing the undergarments, which the group claims violates Islamic teaching.
The online exchange has also captured the attention of journalists and media professionals in the country.
"I think it is a victory for the Internet and social media in particular," said Charles Onyango-Obbo, who directs digital media for Nation Media Group, Kenya's largest private media company. "Even though groups like al-Shabaab don't believe in the underlying liberal society that produces social media, they have had to accept that that is where you have to be to be heard by, especially, the younger people who will swell their ranks."
Despite the groundswell of interest in the Twitter feed, some in Kenya worry about the risks associated with following al-Shabaab through social media, given the fact that the US labeled them a terrorist group in 2008.
Officials contacted at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi said that they were closely monitoring the account.
"In as far as I suspect that the Americans must be keen to keep tabs on anyone that views al-Shabaab's Twitter page, yes, I am a little insecure," Mary-Sanyu Osire, a freelance journalist, said.
However, Deco Langa, a master's degree candidate from Tanzania, said that he feels no such fear. Langa said that the Twitter feed offers a rare and entertaining glimpse into al-Shabaab's activities.
"I don't feel insecure at all," said Langa. "It's a fan page like any other, just like the Joyce Meyer page or Manchester United page."
- 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 : Police Name 15 Key Shabaab Fugitives By Zaddock Angira (AllAfrica)
Police have released the names of 15 men they believe hold key information that could help unravel the Al-Shabaab militia.
The suspects are said to have left Kismayu recently for Kenya and some are believed to be already in the country. The group comprises nine Kenyans, two Asians and four Somalis aged between 24 and 32.
Most of the Kenyans are known to have resided in Majengo area of Nairobi and Mombasa before leaving for Somalia about a year ago.
"If any of these people is in Kenya, they are advised to report to the nearest police station," said Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe.
He also urged any person who sees any of them or has information on their whereabouts to inform police.
One of the suspects is Habib Saleh Ghani aka Abu Usama Al-Pakistani, a Briton.
The others, some only known by only one name, are Abdi Samadi Wadud aka Asu, Ali Hashim Muhogo, Amar, Bashir, Budalangi, Erico, Farhan Ayub, Jamadar, Juma Ayub, Amar, Mwarabu, Ramadhan Kioko, Sufiyan and Habib Saleh.
Police have also released the name of Baba Nawal, suspected to have been involved in the kidnapping of a disabled French woman who was abducted in Lamu in October.
Another suspect wanted by police is Natalie Fayed, holder of passport number A 0152478 who is said to have entered Kenya through Lunga Lunga border crossing on February 26, and also came in on August 25, through Namanga.
She is in the company of her three children one girl and two boys aged 10, 8 and 5.
Police have also confirmed that GSU officers killed three suspected Al-Shabaab militants and recovered five AK-47 rifles, two speedboats, 14 magazines and 372 bullets on Saturday morning.
Kiwayu area
The officers, who were on patrol, saw an unidentified boat approaching the Kenyan territorial waters at around 6.30am on Friday morning at Kiwayu area of Lamu. They gave chase but the suspects sped and abandoned the boat and disappeared into the Mokokoni forest.
On Saturday at around 9am the GSU officers from the 'L' company now based at Kiunga found the armed men and a fierce exchange ensued.
In the process, three of the suspects were killed and three others escaped with gunshot injuries.
"There were no casualties among the security agents," said Mr Kiraithe.
Meanwhile, police have banned all fireworks as they intensify security patrols and at the same time urged the public to liaise with their local police on security arrangements before they organise or attend any gatherings.
Mr Kiraithe, however, stressed that he was satisfied with the security situation in the country and the police would not ban gatherings.
Mr Kiraithe has at the same time warned refugees who engage in criminal activities that stern action will be taken against them. There have been cases of criminal activities within the refugee camps.
On Thursday night, a refugee leader, Ahmed Mohamud, was shot dead as he was entering his compound at the Hagadera refugee camp.
Ahmed was the chairperson of the Community Peace and Security Team -- a refugee-run community group -- said to be instrumental in maintaining security in the camp.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) AntÃ'nio Guterres has also condemned the killing of the leader.
In the North Eastern province, the security forces are on high alert after intelligence reports showed that improvised explosive devices (IED) experts from Bulla Hawa town in Southern Somalia had crossed to Mandera on Friday.
The experts are allegedly training people in buildings near Kenya Customs control.
The intelligence report further states that the militants' main targets are the State security forces especially in Mandera.
Addressing the media during the briefing on the war against Al-Shabaab, Military Spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said the Al-Shabaab suffered the highest number of casualties in the last one week.
He said that the KDF gained more ground on the Northern sector and close to 6,000 residents had moved back to their original homes.
On Thursday, five militants and one KDF soldier were killed, and five other KDF soldiers injured following a ground engagement.
Improvised explosive Col Oguna said that the previous day, a KDF vehicle drove over an IED and, as a result, four soldiers were injured and the vehicle slightly damaged.
The largest number of casualties occurred on Christmas day when the forces killed around 100 members including some foreign fighters.
Earlier on December 24, the KDF raided a customs office and killed six and wounded eight Al-Shabaab members and also destroyed a technical (vehicle used by the militants).
Col Oguna added that the forces had blocked the charcoal trade as part of their strategy to ensure that Al-Shabaab are starved of cash and also to check on environmental degradation.
Regarding the US stoppage of financial transactions from the diaspora, Col Oguna welcomed the move though he said it did not significantly contribute to the success of their operation.
"Al-Shabaab has never been funded from the diaspora and that is why we are concentrating on blocking their sources of income within," said Oguna.
China, Oil and Ethnic Cleansing in Horn of Africa By Thomas C. Mountain
Chinese oil workers once again seem to be at the center of a nasty counterinsurgency in the Horn of Africa, in the Ogaden, located in south east Ethiopia.
The Ogaden is home to what is reported to be major deposits of gas and oil, though as in South Sudan, just how much is actually there is still just guess work.
In the 1960's Western oil companies started finding lots of natural gas and maybe even oil in the region.
Then came various wars and then the US invasion of Somalia in 1992-3 and all the murder and mayhem this little war unleashed amongst the Somali people. So the western Big Oil Mafia has stayed away.
By the beginning of the new millennium China had begun developing the Sudanese oil fields in the Abeye region and an oil pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Shortly thereafter the Chinese began taking a hard look at next door Ethiopia and the enormous potential of the Ogaden gas and oil deposits.
Thus began the story of how China came to the Horn of Africa looking for oil and found itself in the midst of trouble.
To develop the Ogaden energy resources China had to get into bed with a strong contender for the most hated man in Africa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Meles for his part has always been haemorrhaging hard currency, as much as 75% of such available, paying for imported fuel of which Ethiopia, a country of 80 million or so, has been completely dependent on.
Recently there have been reports that the Sudanese oil fields in Abeye have seen a decline in production and may see a major decline over the next decade.
The hard fact is that the Sudanese oil fields are China's only majority owned and controlled oil or gas fields in Africa and their exhaustion leaves China with a big hole in its African strategic interests in energy reserves.
With the possibility of major gas and oil deposits next door in the Ogaden located in south east Ethiopia, China has bitten at the bait and what has been happening seems to be the only really serious mistake China has been making in Africa.
The Ogaden is home to the thousands strong Ogaden National Liberation Front who have been fighting a genocidal occupation by the Ethiopian military.
The occupation of the Ogaden has long been a major thorn in the side of the Ethiopian ethnic minority regimes that have ruled Ethiopia for the past century or more.
The Ogaden was once part of what was the Land of the Somalis and it was only the work of the western colonialists who have separated the Somali people into "Ethiopians", "Kenyans", "Djiboutians" and Somalis.
Historically the Somali people, and amongst the Ogadenis live every major clan or sub-clan found in Somalia, are fiercely nationalistic (as strange as this may seem today).
Somali's are known as loving their independence and as skilled fighters, brave and courageous. Historically only a few have dared to pick a fight with them.
Today's Somalis are the only nationality in Africa who share a common culture, identity and language having done so for many centuries.
It was only the military superiority of both the British and Italians that divided Somalia.
In 1977, Somali President Siad Barre nearly succeeded in reuniting the Somali people of the Ogaden with Somalia proper, invading the Ogaden and destroying the Ethiopian army only to see the Soviet Union fly in tens of thousands of Cuban troops with heavy armor, crush the Somali army and bring Siad Barre's adventurism to its end.
With the last decade seeing an Ethiopian scorched earth campaign, with paramilitary death squads enforcing a food and medical aid blockade during the worst drought in 60 years, and now ethnic cleansing, the crimes committed against the Ogaden people remain unknown to most of the world.
In 2007 matters blew up, literally, when a Chinese oil exploration crew and their Ethiopian military bodyguards were attacked by fighters from the ONLF with a half a dozen Chinese nationals amongst the hundred or more Ethiopian soldiers killed in the attack.
Since then the Chinese have been much lower key about their plans to continue energy exploitation in the Ogaden.
2011 saw reports of Chinese oil company personnel in Ethiopian army uniforms doing exploration work back where all the trouble broke out in 2007 and once again in the midst of fighting with the ONLF.
Now we are receiving gruesome reports that an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Ogadenis living in the Chinese oil exploration license area is being carried out by the Ethiopian army.
The army arrives in an area and begins to arrest or kill all the adult males, forcing all the men to flee into the surrounding countryside for days at a time, returning to find their homes burnt and even their children eaten by hyenas.
The question is, will the name of the Chinese owned oil company "Petronas" come to be one hated by tens of millions of Horn of Africans? Like it already is amongst the Somali people of the Ogaden? Only time, and good sense by the Chinese, will tell.
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Thomas C. Mountain is the only independent western journalist in the Horn of Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached at thomascmountain at yahoo dot com.
Chinese Troops in Seychelles: An Analysis (DefPro)
The republic of Seychelles has come in news with the stationing of the Chinese troops in Mahe. The archipelago nation is located at a strategic location as it lies in the path of major shipping lines. This has raised a pertinent question as to what has provoked China to station troops in Seychelles. Is piracy the only reason for this or there are other ulterior motives behind the stationing of the troops?
It is not the first time that China is stationing its troops in Seychelles, China - Seychelles relations date back to 1976. Defence cooperation between Seychelles and China started in October 2004. As a part of the military cooperation agreement in 2004, China is already training fifty Seychelles People's Defence Forces (SPDF) soldiers. In addition, the Chinese Navy's hospital Ship- Peace Ark visited Seychelles in November 2010 and two Chinese frigates visited in April 2011 for the first time.
The President of Seychelles visited China to mark 35 years of diplomatic relations in October 2011. And as a part of their military ties, they gifted the SPDF two Y-12 aircraft for surveillance and anti-piracy. As a part of their larger diplomatic ties Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie visited Seychelles, on 3 December 2011, with his 40 member delegation. As an effort to combat piracy in the region the republic of Seychelles, invited the Chinese troops on their land. The nature of these troops will be limited to naval fleet only. Nevertheless these troops are not to protect the supply stop in Seychelles and will seek supplies or recuperate in escort missions.
China already has the resupply facilities in Djibouti, Oman and Yemen since 2008 in the Gulf of Aden and it has not established a military base there.
Piracy has become a complex problem at the high seas in general and Horn of Africa in particular. Seychelles has become the primary target of the pirates since it is the destination of wealthy tourists. A Seychelles commercial tour yacht Serenity which was travelling from the country's far islands south to Madagascar in April 2009 as captured by a group of Somali pirates. Ever since then it has become a regular phenomenon. This was followed by more hijacking in subsequent years of vessel near the Seychelles, including a small cruise ship, a scientific research vessel, and several more yachts. In 2009 Seychelles government paid US$ 50 million to the Somali Pirates to free their vessels/property.
Piracy has become a rooted problem in the region and China has a vested interest in combating piracy. Seychelles is the first point of stop for Chinese merchant vessels. Chinese economy is heavily dependent on the usage of the sea lane off coast of Somalia; a prime target of the pirates. Hence securing these sea lines of communication for energy and raw materials is important for the Chinese economy. Considering, the immense strategic importance of the region it is no surprise that China is interested in the region and it largely supports any effort to fight piracy.
Today, China and Seychelles stand as a "model for relations between small and big developing country". Both countries look positively within the framework of the forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The two countries will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of settlement of the first Chinese in Seychelles. The archipelago nation follows policy of nonalignment and supports the policy of reduced superpower presence in the Indian Ocean and is one of the proponents of the Indian Ocean Zone of Peace.
Thus any chance of Mahe becoming a prospective naval base seems to be a remote possibility. Though the stationing of troops has raised doubts about China's "military base" in Seychelles which might lead to an increase in Chinese influence in the region surpassing that of the US in Africa. Nonetheless, China is not the only country which has stationed troops, an Indian Dornier surveillance aircraft (under construction) was given to the SPDF for maritime surveillance within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in February, 2011. In addition two Chetak maritime choppers were provided to fight against sea pirates. India hails the Seychelles efforts to combat piracy and has initiated a series of maritime operations to check piracy. In 2009 US Africa Command (AFRICOM) had put together a US military base in Seychelles. American military drone had earlier been used to monitor piracy off the East African coast.
Also, it takes a lot of technological and economic transfer for turning any refueling base into a military base. Chinese military is undergoing a modernization program and it does not yet have the capability to maintain a military base overseas.
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Author Teshu Singh is Research officer with IPCS
East Africa: Soldiers of Fortune By Christine Mungai (KeydMedia)
Christine Mungai - Nairobi - Events playing out in Somalia in the past one month almost look like a sequel to Black Hawk Down, the harrowing tale of how an ill-conceived mission by an elite team of American special forces went bad.
It is 18 years since America's last soldier left Somalia. Africa has finally agreed to take care of the mess in the Horn of Africa in a country that has been in the grip of a murderous terrorist group whose leadership and rank and file is filled with child soldiers and teenagers.
Uganda and Burundi are the only countries currently contributing troops to a peacekeeping mission in a conflict that has been made intractable by both internal politics and warlord benefiting from the war economy, and regional power interests.
Al Shabaab, the dominant rebel militia now routinely threatens global sea lanes and a crucial choke point through which 70 per cent of all global oil exports pass.
It is forging important links with Al Qaeda, the global terror franchise.
So far, it has successfully staged two foreign attacks in Kampala and Nairobi.
In the meantime, the balkanisation of Somalia is gathering pace with the establishment of Somaliland, Puntland, and soon Jubaland as peaceful, semi-automous enclaves that now seek international recognition as independent states.
US President Barack Obama has also recently unveiled his much awaited "Duo-Track" Somalia policy dubbed that seeks to support both the feeble and deeply corrupt Transitional Federal Government (TFG) whose mandate is expiring in July 2011, and the semi-autonous states that want to break free.
This is the same solution Kenya has been pushing with its Jubaland Initiative.
It is in this context that a former special adviser on war crimes to former president George W. Bush, Pierre Prosper, and a former CIA deputy station chief in Mogadishu, Michael Shanklin have linked up with President Yoweri Museveni's younger brother, who is also a retired Uganda general (Caleb Akwandanaho, alias Salim Saleh).
Mr Saleh is an investor in Saracen International, a private military company outfit based in Uganda.
There is even an "angel investor" rumoured to be a mysterious Middle East government that is funding the whole operation.
Their plan is to do what the armies from the world's only superpower and from the AU have failed to do: Empower the semi-autonomous state of Puntland to set up a 1,000 man commando unit to fight off pirates and secure its monopoly of the use of violence throughout its territory.
The plan will also include training a presidential guard for the TFG. If these two pilot projects work, there is a possibility of scaling their operation throughout Somalia.
According to security experts, the plan on paper could work, but in reality, a lot could go terribly wrong sparking an even deadlier wave of violence. These are the major worries.
First, the involvement of a private military company (PMC) -- let alone one associated with the brother of a president from the country contributing most troops -- was not sanctioned by the AU.
It may make member states uncomfortable, and it may enrage some like Somaliland which now feels threatened by its neighbour Puntland, and it may enrage Al Shaabab and the Somali populace which will interpret Salim Saleh's and Uganda's presence in their country as seeking to profit from their war.
The EastAfrican has obtained confidential information to the effect that Saracen International started the training in Puntland without the approval from the AU, making its activities controversially parallel to the mandate of the AU Mission to Somalia, Amisom.
Second, these developments also raise the question of how the UN and the AU sponsored peacekeeping mission will co-exist with private military companies.
Third, and perhaps the most worrying, is the confluence of global energy politics, religion and a corporate army in Somalia in an already volatile conflict.
Puntland is rich in oil and natural gas, and it is speculated that the entry of Saracen International is in return for concessions in oil exploration and extraction.
E.J. Hogendoorn, a Nairobi-based analyst with the International Crisis Group told the Associated Press, "We don't know if this unknown entity is operating in the interests of Somalis or their own self-interest. If it's a company, there has to be a quid pro quo in terms of [oil and gas] concessions. If it's a government, they are interested in changing the balance of power."
With the mandate of the Transitional Federal Government ending in July 2011, the emergence of an armed militia in Somalia is a source of concern for the stability of the Horn of Africa.
The combination of a weak state, valuable natural resources, and a for-profit military corporation is a scenario that has played out before on the African continent with devastating consequences, and history threatens to repeat itself in Puntland.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, private military companies and defence contractors have played a growing role in the support of state armed forces, and in multilateral reconstruction strategies, such as in present-day Iraq.
These types of firms are also critical in raising and maintaining levels of security in unstable but economically strategic areas of the world.
Many states that had previously benefited from military aid found themselves in a precarious security situation at the end of the Cold War, requiring them to use PMCs to support their armed forces.
These contracts have historically been financed by the often controversial extraction of natural resources.
Mercenaries, PMCs, which? There is a thin line between PMCs and mercenaries. Ever since men have waged wars, there have always been soldiers of fortune willing to sell their services.
Like piracy, the mercenary ethos resonates with an aura adventure, mystery, and danger, appearing frequently in popular culture, where they are often referred to as profiteers, adventurers, filibusters, gunslingers or knights-errant.
These security agents today prefer to be known as private military corporations, private military firms, private security providers or military service providers.
These companies refer to their business as the private military industry, in order to avoid the negative stigma often associated with the word mercenaries.
In the 20th century, mercenaries and PMCs widely involved in conflicts in Africa.
In some cases, their involvement had brought about a swift end to civil wars by comprehensively defeating rebel forces.
In 1960, when Katanga state declared its independence from the Congo, loosely organised bands of mercenary commandos illegally attacked UN peacekeeping troops.
This forced the Security Council to adopt the use of force by UN Security Council Resolution 161, and to request an immediate evacuation of all foreign belligerents.
Few mercenaries left the Congo, and most remained fighting with the Katanga secessionists.
The impact of mercenaries in the Congo has continued to date, where private military companies, that also double up as mining and extraction outfits or work in conjunction with them, continue fighting to secure natural resources.
The lack of trained troops, effective logistics and international support has weakened the ability of Monuc to carry out its mandate.
Conceivably, this absence of effective international action may drive the private sector to institute a private peacekeeping mission, backed by mining firms, in order to protect their investments in the country.
Executive Outcomes (EO), a now-defunct South African PMC, is notable on the continent for its direct military involvement in Angola and Sierra Leone.
Executive Outcomes initially trained and later fought on behalf of the Angolan government against rebel movement Unita, after Unita refused to accept Angola's election results in 1992.
The company was accused by the South African media of attempting to assassinate Unita rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, and as a result, EO found itself under constant Unita attack.
EO was then officially recognised by the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and subsequently awarded a contract to train the FAA.
In a short space of time, Unita was defeated on the battlefield and sued for peace. The Angolan government, under pressure from the UN and the US, was forced to terminate EO's contract. EO was replaced by a UN peacekeeping force.
In 1995, following the publicity EO received in Angola, the company was contracted by the government of Sierra Leone for $15 million to contain rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), who controlled the natural resources of the country and were advancing on the capital, Freetown.
Within months of entering the conflict, the company had pushed back the RUF, regained control of the diamond fields, and forced a negotiated peace.
Government saviour In both Angola and Sierra Leone, EO is credited with rescuing legitimate governments from destabilising forces.
In Angola, this led to a ceasefire and the Lusaka Protocol, which ended the Angolan civil war -- albeit only for a few years.
The company was notable for its ability to provide all aspects of a highly-trained modern army to the less professional government forces of Sierra Leone and Angola.
For instance, in Sierra Leone, Executive Outcomes fielded not only professional fighting men, but armour and support aircraft.
Interestingly, Executive Outcomes had contracts with multinationals such as De Beers, Chevron, Rio Tinto Zinc and Texaco.
The founder of EO, Tony Buckingham, was also the founder and director of mining and extraction firm Branch Heritage, which was sold to Diamond Works in 1996.
Branch Heritage acquired concessions to extract diamonds in Sierra Leone, and also paid the bill for EO's interventions in that country.
EO was not the first PMC to involve itself in the Sierra Leonean conflict.
It was preceded by Gurkha Security Guards, and would be succeeded by Sandline International.
Sandline billed itself as a PMC offering military training, "operational support" (equipment and arms procurement and limited direct military activity), intelligence gathering, and public relations services to governments and corporations.
Sandline was contracted by ousted Sierra Leonean president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and in Liberia in 2003 in a rebel attempt to evict the then-president Charles Taylor near the end of the civil war.
Sandline ceased all operations on April 16, 2004. On the company's website, a statement explaining the closure of the company is given: "The general lack of governmental support for private military companies willing to help end armed conflicts in places like Africa, in the absence of effective international intervention, is the reason for this decision. Without such support the ability of Sandline to make a positive difference in countries where there is widespread brutality and genocidal behaviour is materially diminished."
It has been rumoured that some of Sandline's personnel are now part of Aegis Defence Services, a British PMC active in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These apparent successes of PMCs promote the concept that these companies can achieve peace faster and cheaper than UN peacekeeping missions.
In retrospect, however, the presence of PMCs actually poured more weapons into conflict zones, weakened the economy and created a base for further conflict, as was the case with EO's involvement in Angola.
Perhaps the most notorious of all PMCs is Blackwater USA, which changed its name to Blackwater Worldwide, and is now known as Xe Services.
The company was formed in 1997 by Erik Prince in North Carolina.
In 2003, Blackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer.
Since June 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department budget for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U.S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones.
The company has been implicated in several human-rights abuses in Iraq.
The Iraq War documents leak posted on WikiLeaks showed that Blackwater employees had committed serious abuses in Iraq, including killing civilians.
Altogether, the documents reveal fourteen separate shooting incidents involving Blackwater forces, which resulted in the deaths of ten civilians and the wounding of seven others, not including the Nisoor Square massacre in Baghdad that killed seventeen civilians.
A third of the shootings occurred while Blackwater forces were guarding US diplomats.
Court documents made public reveal that Blackwater/Xe violated US federal law hundreds of times according to allegations by the federal government.
In August 2010, the company agreed to pay a $42 million fine to settle allegations that it unlawfully provided armaments, military equipment and know-how overseas.
The settlement and fine conclude a U.S. State Department investigation that began in 2007.
Most of the 288 violations of export control laws involved violations of US arms control laws, that is Blackwater/Xe providing military or security training to foreign nationals or failing to vet adequately the backgrounds of those it was training.
The implications of Saracen International's involvement in Somalia are therefore far-reaching.
It has often been presented that PMCs are cheaper and more efficient than UN peacekeeping operations, and proponents of this idea give Angola and Sierra Leone as examples.
However, the mandate of PMCs in those two conflicts was to destroy rebel opposition, and not to involve themselves in the peace process.
The mandate of UN peacekeeping operations, and indeed Amisom in Somalia, is not to conduct war or destroy an enemy.
The respect of national sovereignty, the need of self determination of citizens and the promotion of international peace and security are difficult to put together in a coherent manner in peacekeeping operations.
PMCs are not faced with these dilemmas, however, and this is the reason why, at face-value, they seem to be more efficient than a UN mission.
These companies are only effective in the short-term as they do not address the core situations, but only temporarily delay the resumption of combat.
Accountability of PMCs is also put in question; these companies are ideally accountable to their national judiciary systems, but these are often ineffective abroad.
No official body monitors their rules of engagement as they often operate in weak states which are unable to provide a firm judicial framework to regulate PMC activities.
The situation in Somalia, therefore, needs to be closely monitored. Peacekeeping operations, including "anti-piracy" missions should not be left in the hands of the private sector, especially in an environment as fragile as Somalia's.
Kenya: Five dead in Kenya New Year blast (AFP)
Five people were killed in a New Year's Eve hand grenade attack and shooting in a bar in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa near the border with Somalia, police said Sunday.
It marked the latest in a series of such attacks since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia to fight the Islamist Shebab.
"There was an explosion in a club in town shortly before midnight (Saturday) and five people died," a senior police officer at Northeast provincial headquarters told AFP.
"After the explosion in the club there was shooting outside and people were running all over. It appears they targeted New Year celebrations," the officer added, asking not to be named.
Regional police chief Leo Nyongesa told AFP: "We are investigating. We are looking for the attackers."
Residents voiced fears that the attackers might have been Somali Shebab insurgents or their sympathisers, intent on creating a divide between Christians and Muslims in the region.
Peter Mwathis, a guard who was wounded in the attack in the garrison town, described the assailants as four men dressed in military uniform.
"I was confronted by a man in full Kenyan army uniform who asked me to open the gate. When I saw he was holding a grenade I ran into the bushes," he told AFP from his hospital bed.
"Then I heard a big blast and the place was sprayed with bullets. I thought I had escaped but later on I felt a sharp pain in my chest and realised that it was a bullet wound.
"I heard people cry loudly as more bullets rent the air targeting those fleeing from the bar," he added.
Mohamed Abdikadir, the provincial director of public health, said a total of 21 people injured in the blast are being treated at Garissa hospital; two are them are in critical condition while the rest are out of danger.
There were unconfirmed reports of two police officers among the dead, one who was shot at the entry to the bar and the other who was hit in a taxi a short distance away.
The predominantly Muslim town, the capital of Northeast province, lies just 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Somali border and 70 kilometres from Dadaab, a complex of Somali refugee camps.
Nairobi sent troops and tanks into Somalia in mid-October to fight the Shebab which it accuses of staging a series of attacks on Kenyan soil.
Since the deployment, Kenya's northeast has been the focus of a series of attacks, often blamed by the authorities on sympathisers of Shebab militants who control swathes of central and southern Somalia.
On Christmas Eve, a grenade explosion in a bar in Wajir, another town in the same region, left six people wounded.
Garissa has been one of the worst hit by the violence. On November 24, two grenade attacks there killed three people and injured 27. On November 5 a grenade attack on a church in the town killed two people and injured four.
Kenyan police had announced on Saturday that they would be circulating photographs of 15 people they believe can provide information on the Shebab.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told journalists the nine Kenyans, two Asians and four Somalis are believed to have left Somalia and that some were thought to be in Kenya already "with the intent of engaging in criminal activities".
10 illegal Somali immigrants killed while escaping to S A By Idda Mushi (TheGuardian)
Ten Somali nationals said to be illegal immigrants have suffocated in a heavy-duty truck they were traveling in along Mikumi-Iringa highway and their bodies dumped in Ruaha River.
Reports of the dumped bodies were confirmed yesterday by Morogoro Regional Police Commander, Adolphina Chialo, who said the incident occurred on December 30, last year.
"The ten Somali nationals who were found dead on December 30, last year, were heading to South Africa," she said.
The latest incident brings the number of deaths of Somali nationals to 20, in a span of one week.
According to the regional police chief, Good Samaritans tipped off the police about the dumped Somali nationals, noting that eight of them were men and two women.
The Morogoro RPC said police were tracing the truck driver, adding that the bodies of the deceased had no injuries.
Recently, according to the RPC, ten Somali nationals were reported to have been found dead in separate incidents in Mikese, Melela, Ihovi and Mikumi areas.
Commander Chialo said there was a growing of racket of people transporting Somali nationals in containers, which are used for cargo and petroleum products, putting their lives at great risk.
She said police investigations have established that most of the Somali nationals preferred to use petroleum trucks, saying they felt 'safe'.
However, some of the Somalis who surrendered to the police, managed to identify the bodies of their colleagues, saying they were dumped on the road after the owner of the lorry discovered that they were in a critical condition.
As Africa is Rising, so Should its Status in the World Stage By Abdirahman Takhal (AlliDamaale.com)
It's been argued that globalization per se does not produce poverty and inequality. The main obstacles that entwined with globalization are the rules and regulations that govern it. These rules are fundamentally unjust since the rich-states' interests can not be reconciled with those of the poor and weaker developing countries. Hence, this is why many in Africa believe the current world order is nothing more than new form of colonization. As Africa is rising, particularly in the economic and technological sectors, its power and influence should increase alongside.
It is true that most of African nations are run by undemocratic, incompetent, and self-serving tyrants, which consequently resulted, in part, Africa's exclusion from discussions of the key global issues. But, the West's denial of Africa's rightful democratic representation in the decision-making process within the international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), all of which are the cornerstones of the current trend of the globalization, are seen more of a rejection of Africa then cooperation with the continent as some suggest.
This negative feelings among Africans is confirmed by a recent survey done by UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) that shows majority of respondents (57%) believe the current economic governance structures as not fulfilling their effective participation in the global economy. According to the study, African Least Developed Countries are even more skeptical, with staggering two-third of respondents expressing the view of the current global governance does not allow for their effective participation in norm setting in the key financial, monetary and multilateral institutions.
For instance, almost a quarter of the IMF's member states come from sub-Saharan Africa (45 countries), yet the total voting power of this bloc is estimated to only 4.4%. Even in the decisions that directly affect them, Africans lack the power to sway votes toward their direction; instead, they rely on other developing countries to help them secure sufficient support for their position. Such humiliating treatment of the African states is, in part, why Africans believe the developed world are keeping them to be reliant on them, rather than see a self-reliant Africa.
Considering Africa's growth in economic and technological areas, the continent should be rewarded its rightful seat on the table—global leadership stage. The main reason that Africa should be an important stakeholder, not just important follower, of the world affairs is its impressive economic growth. This is evident in the finding of The Economist that over the ten years to 2010, the top six of the world's ten fastest growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa. The Western African nation of Angola, a country devastated by civil war and violence against women and children in the 1990s, now tops the list, while Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, was forth fastest growing economy. Even more impressive, during the same period, the African countries outpaced economically their Asian counterpart—a trend that will continue at least through 2015.
Moreover, Africa's economic outlook is even better than its current trend of economic growth. On IMF forecasts "Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years". This phenomenon was taking hold in the continent while most of the global markets, particularly those in the developed world, were contracting below 4 to 8 percent in 2008 and 2009; Africa was enjoying a modest economic growth. According to the African Economic Outlook 2008, a collaborative project between the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Center and the UNECA, the continent continued economic growth with the rate of GDP growth averaging about 5.7 in 2007 and 5.9 in 2008 and 2009.
Therefore, the alienation of Africa – a continent with abundance of both natural and human resources – from discussions of key global issues is indicitive of how much the developed world would rather cling to their traditional leadership role than to embrace a new world order of which the decision-makers are diverse and representative of the twenty-first century's world, not the Cold War's "first, second and third worlds".
Despite Africa's exclusion from global institutions as a decision-making stakeholder, something wonderful is underway across the continent in the technological front. For instance, in Africa, the utilization of the modern technologies such as the mobile phones and the broadband internet is going at a speed faster than any other time in the history. According to recent report by GSM, Africa is the second largest user of mobile phones after Asia; Over 650, 000,000, or 50 percent of Africans, are subscribed to mobile phone services.
On the other hand, the growth in Africa's internet and broadband sector has accelerated in recent years due to improved infrastructure coupled with the arrival of wireless access technologies and less regulations, which resulted lower tariffs. In an effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, for example, broadband internet is rapidly replacing dial-up as preferred access method, according to a recent report by the Internet World Stats, an organization that tracks the usage of the internet globally. The reason of the growth of the internet usage that is taking place in Africa is because many Africans have gained access to international fibre bandwidth for the first time via submarine cable in 2009 and 2010. Though the growth in this sector is slow, almost 15% of Africans (118 million) do have internet access; 30 million of them are on facebook. Nigeria, with more than 40 million users, leads the way as can be seen below:
In conclusion, while Africa's shortcomings -- lack of good governance, corruption, incompetent head figures, etc -- can not be ignored, yet the continent's dynamic and fast paced economic growth must be taken into account as basis of elevating Africa' world status from the current subservient role to an active participant of the debates regarding the international key issues: economic, technology, peace and security, poverty, climate change, and other important issues borne out of the current trend of globalization. Africa is not asking for a century of its own. But all Africans want is their fair share in the 21st century. Is that too much to ask?
Bibliography: International Monterey Fund Governing Document
"Can Globalization Work for Africa" by Carin Norberg, Director, and Fantu Cheru Ph.D. Research Driector, The Nordic Africa Institute, March 2011
" Africa—Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics" by Peter Lange, February 2011(9th edition)
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals Progress Report, March 2011
"Africa's Impressive Growth" The Economist January 06, 2011(Online version)
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Author Abdirahman Takhal can be reached via atakhal@aol.com
Editorial: Money-wire freeze penalizes Somalis (StarTribune)
Federal officials, banks should find a way to restart transfers. It's been about 10 days since the last bank in Minnesota stopped transferring funds from here to Somalia, citing federal rules intended to stop terror financing. Since then, all of the parties involved have said they want to find a way to resume the service, understanding that thousands of Somalis depend on remittances from family members in Minnesota.
So far the conversations haven't done the job, and Somali-Americans in Minnesota are scrambling to find ways to help their loved ones back home. Local banks and federal officials should keep pushing for a solution. The federal State and Treasury Departments should quickly find a way to allow legal, much-needed money transfers to the famine- and war-torn nation. No one wants funds in the hands of terrorists, but it isn't right for innocent people to lose their ability to send money to fight famine and poverty in their homeland.
In addition to humanitarian concerns, cutting off the flow of funds could become a national-security problem for America. If Somali-Americans can't continue the lifeline to friends and families through transparent, traceable means, they may rely on less scrupulous underground methods in which the money is more likely to be stolen or diverted for the wrong purposes.
The local Somali community is in this situation because just over a week ago, Sunrise Community Banks, the parent company of Franklin Bank, closed accounts with Minnesota's 14 Somali money-transfer groups known as hawalas. Franklin had been the only financial institution left in the state, and perhaps the nation, that worked with hawalas to get funds to the East African nation and to nearby refugee camps.
Because Somalia has no formal banking system or government, the hawalas had been necessary as middlemen to get the funds from places like Dubai to people in East Africa. An estimated $100 million is sent to Somalia annually from the United States, and the largest population of Somalis is in the Twin Cities.
A Sunrise official said the bank cut off the accounts because officials feared they would be held liable under federal rules if any transferred funds ended up in the wrong hands. They took the action after two Minnesota women were convicted in October of wiring more than $8,600 through hawalas to Al-Shabab, a militant Islamic group in Somalia classified by U.S. authorities as a terrorist organization. And in December, a Somali refugee in San Diego confessed to a similar crime.
Although no U.S. bank has ever been prosecuted for sending money to Somalia, Sunrise officials say it's too risky to continue facilitating the remittances. For weeks before Sunrise stopped making transfers, elected officials and Somali money-transfer operators had lobbied federal officials to grant the bank a waiver that would have removed its liability risk.
Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, as well as Rep. Keith Ellison, sent letters to several federal agencies explaining the risk to national security in shutting down the hawalas. They pointed out that if remittances from Somali expatriates living in the United States cease, it could benefit Al-Shabab by allowing the organization to claim that America was preventing needed funds from getting to suffering Somalis. Ellison has also suggested that a longer-term solution might be for the Somali community to open its own banks or money-wiring businesses.
In the meantime, the banks and the federal government should turn their talk about resolving the problem into action -- quickly. The lives of suffering Somalis may hang in the balance.
Strait Of Hormuz: Closer And Closer To War Strait of Hormuz powder keg: US-Israel to meet Great Prophet? (RT)
With tensions around the Strait of Hormuz sky-high, Iranian plans to conduct the country's "greatest naval war games" could coincide with joint US-Israeli exercises in the Persian Gulf. With both sides taking positions, could a real battle be looming?
Hopefully the massive exercises will remain just that. But with three armies on the playing board, one spark could be enough to ignite an all-out war.
Iran, which recently held a 10-day naval exercise near the Strait of Hormuz to demonstrate its military prowess, is now planning new, "massive" naval drills codenamed The Great Prophet.
The drills will be carried out by the country's elite Revolutionary Guard, which has its own air, naval and ground forces separate from those of the regular military.
On Thursday, the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's naval commander, Admiral Ali Fadavi, as saying the next round of war games would be "different" from previous ones, AP reports.
However, on the same day, an Israeli military spokesman speaking under condition of anonymity said his country was gearing up for the largest joint missile defense exercise ever held with the United States.
The drill, called "Austere Challenge 12," is scheduled to take place in the upcoming weeks. Its primary purpose is to test multiple Israeli and US air defense systems, especially the "Arrow" system, which the country specifically developed with help from the US to intercept Iranian missiles.
Perhaps more alarmingly to the Iranian leadership, thousands of US troops will be deployed to Israel in support of the drill.
While the Israeli military claims the latest exercises are unconnected with recent events, Martin Van Creveld, a military historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the drill would be used to gain leverage over Iran.
"Defending against an attack is not something that you improvise from today to tomorrow. It's something you have to prepare, you have to rehearse. This, among other things, is an exercise to show Iran, the people in Tehran, that Israel and the United States are ready to counterattack," AP cites him as saying.
But Jamal Abdi of the National Iranian American Council in Washington told RT the actions of America and Israel are not merely preventative.
"We're getting closer and closer to war with Iran. Anybody who argues that this extraordinary confluence of events 'the planned exercises by the US and Israel, the exercises that Iran was doing in the Persian Gulf, we have sanctions in place with no diplomacy' the only way that that ends is through confrontation," he said.
Iran To Hold Largest-Ever Naval Drills Near Strait Of Hormuz Iran to stage new "massive" naval drills near Strait of Hormuz (RussianInformationAgencyNovosti)
-The newly announced Iraninan drills, codenamed The Great Prophet, may coincide with major naval exercises that Israel and the United States are planning to hold in the Persian Gulf in the near future. AP quoted on Thursday a senior Israeli military official as saying the drills would be held in the next few weeks.
The exercises, called Austere Challenge 12, which both Israeli and U.S. officials have described as the largest-ever joint drills by the two countries...
Moscow: Iran is planning to hold new "massive" naval exercises near the strategic Strait of Hormuz within the next few weeks, the country's Fars news agency has said, as Tehran's tensions with the West continue to escalate following threats of new sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear program.
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted in the Fars report as saying the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps was planning to conduct "its greatest naval war games" near the Straight of Hormuz in the near future.
The announcement came just days after the Iranian navy completed its 10-day naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz. The drills were held after the Islamic Republic threatened to block the waterway, where an estimated 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil passes, in response to Western plans to ban oil imports from Iran. The Islamic Republic derives some 60 percent of its budget revenues from oil exports.
The newly announced Iraninan drills, codenamed The Great Prophet, may coincide with major naval exercises that Israel and the United States are planning to hold in the Persian Gulf in the near future. AP quoted on Thursday a senior Israeli military official as saying the drills would be held in the next few weeks.
The exercises, called Austere Challenge 12, which both Israeli and U.S. officials have described as the largest-ever joint drills by the two countries, are designed to improve missile defense systems and co-operation between the U.S. and Israeli forces.
The United States on Saturday approved sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry, and the European Union will consider banning Iranian oil imports during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in late January.
The sanctions are designed to persuade Iran to drop what Western powers believe is a secret nuclear weapons program developed by Tehran.
Iran denies the claims, saying its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.
Anonymous exposes 860K Stratfor users (and 75K credit card numbers) By Jolie O'Dell (venturebeat)
Hacker collective Anonymous has just dumped 200 GB of names, email addresses and passwords for around 860,000 Stratfor users. Anonymous also exposed credit card numbers for 75,000 paying customers of Stratfor.
Stratfor, a security think tank, provides reports on international security and related threats to government and military personnel as well as to the private sector.
It is unknown whether Anonymous gained access to other, more sensitive information during the Stratfor hacks, which occurred on December 24.
"The time for talk is over," Anonymous wrote last night on
Pastebin.
"It's time to dump the full 75,000 names, addresses, CCs and md5 hashed passwords to every customer that has ever paid Stratfor. But that's not all: we're also dumping ~860,000 usernames, email addresses, and md5 hashed passwords for everyone who's ever registered on Stratfor's site… Did you notice 50,000 of these email addresses are .mil and .gov?"
Anonymous' motives for the attack are also somewhat hazy. In last night's statement, representatives of the movement wrote, "All our lives we have been robbed blindly and brutalized by corrupted politicians, establishmentarians and government agencies sex shops, and now it's time to take it back."
In addition to the Stratfor attack and exposure, Anonymous is threatening a new action on New Year's Eve, December 31.
In addition to "noise demonstrations" outside of jails and prisons, ostensibly to show solidarity and support for the incarcerated, Anonymous says it will unveil "our contributions to project mayhem by attacking multiple law enforcement targets from coast to coast."
Project Mayhem, a name nabbed from the book and film
Fight Club, alludes to the group's desire to topple (or at least shake up) systems of capitalistic and political power by exposing certain types of information by or on December 12, 2012.
Stratfor's site has
been offline since December 24, and the firm has delayed its website relaunch in order to review its security.
"As part of our ongoing investigation, we have also decided to delay the launching of our website until a thorough review and adjustment by outside experts can be completed," the company said in an email to VentureBeat earlier this week.
For a detailed account of what happened during the Stratfor hack and what it means, see our
10-part FAQ on Anonymous and Stratfor.
Robin Hood of the Digital Age: Hacker Donates Money To Charity
By Roshan Jerad Perera (BruneiFM)
All the private and government organizations are now having a very busy time as they are examining their accounts after some companies got hacked in the Christmas eve. these hackers stole credit card information from an American security firm on Christmas Eve and used it to make donations to charities. the media is now naming this anonymous hacker as "The Robin Hood of the Digital Age."
The attack targeted Stratfor, a Texas-based company which produces analysis on international security issues for international clients including banks, oil companies and police agencies.
hackers claiming to have donated $500,000 to charities online using the stolen data, as they have posted parts of their haul online. The files included more than 50,000 credit card numbers of which 10,000 were not expired, 87,000 email addresses and 44,000 encrypted passwords, of which around half could be easily cracked.Major British firms such as BP, HSBC and Tesco are named in the files.
On Boxing Day the hackers also published a sample of what they said were emails stolen from Stratfor's servers. "Just a small preview of the mayhem to come," a message posted with the sample said, "one out of 2.7 million".
Merry
LulzXmass #AntiSec™ (wtf? we hate copyright...)
> Can I haz candy?
> :3
Greetings Global Pirates! Having fun riding the waves of the Global Financial Meltdown? We sure are.
Did Bradley Manning get his fancy LulzXmas dinner yet?
hm... guess not.
Still trying to lock him up for life?
Still think we're just joking around?
That's OK. The time for talk is over.
So now let's talk... about cocks:
It's time to dump the full 75,000 names, addresses, CCs and md5 hashed passwords to every customer that has ever paid Stratfor.
But that's not all: we're also dumping ~860,000 usernames, email addresses, and md5 hashed passwords for everyone who's ever registered on Stratfor's site.
> ...
> WTF?!?!
> Did you say 860,000 accounts????
> Did you notice 50,000 of these email addresses are .mil and .gov?
> fuck men...we're pretty much screwed up now...tinfoil hat please here..
> yeah, for the lulz \:D/
> sounds illegal...
* /me phones police
> holy shit, like frontal crash at 180mph!!!
> :P
> lol xD
We almost have sympathy for those poor DHS employees and australian billionaires who had their bank accounts looted by the lulz (orly? i just fapped).
But what did you expect? All our lives we have been robbed blindly and brutalized by corrupted politicians, establishmentarians and government agencies sex shops, and now it's time to take it back.
We call upon all allied battleships, all armies from darkness, to use and abuse these password lists and credit card information to wreak unholy havok upon the systems and personal email accounts of these rich and powerful oppressors. Kill, kitties, kill and burn them down... peacefully. XD XD
Is that it? 0h hell n0.
On New Years Eve, there will be "noise demonstrations" in front of jails and prisons all over the world to show solidarity with those incarcerated.
On this date, we will be launching our contributions to project mayhem
by attacking multiple law enforcement targets from coast to coast.
That's right: once again we bout to ride on the po po. Problem, officer? umad?
Candiez, pr0n and cookies for LulzXmas: http://ibhg35kgdvnb7jvw.onion/lulzxmas/stratfor_full.tar.gz (best download) https://rapidshare.com/#!download|877l33|
3374632512|stratfor_full.tar.gz|53875|R~E33E14C52C8795153D213502698C9141|0|0
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O5P03RXK (good only with registration)
http://www.wupload.com/file/2629492022 (heavily commericialized website)
http://depositfiles.com/files/j87arfcpa (download meanwhile deleted) http://www.verzend.be/odmmqjn6320d/stratfor_full.tar.gz.html (The file was removed by administrator) Statement From Anonymous On Stratfor Email Database Seizure Press Release: Anonymous Statement From Anonymous On Stratfor Email Database Seizure
Source:
http://pastebin.com/WPE73rhy In the wake of the recent operation by which Stratfor's servers were compromised, much of the media has focused on the fact that some participants in the attack chose to use obtained customer credit card numbers to make donations to charitable causes. Although this aspect of the operation is indeed newsworthy, and, like all things, should be scrutinized and criticized as necessary, the original purpose and ultimate consequence of the operation has been largely ignored.
Stratfor was not breached in order to obtain customer credit card numbers, which the hackers in question could not have expected to be as easily obtainable as they were. Rather, the operation was pursued in order to obtain the 2.7 million e-mails that exist on the firm's servers. This wealth of data includes correspondence with untold thousands of contacts who have spoken to Stratfor's employees off the record over more than a decade. Many of those contacts work for major corporations within the intelligence and military contracting sectors, government agencies, and other institutions for which Anonymous and associated parties have developed an interest since February of 2011, when another hack against the intelligence contractor/security firm HBGary revealed, among many other things, a widespread conspiracy by the Justice Department, Bank of America, and other parties to attack and discredit Wikileaks and other activist groups. Since that time, many of us in the movement have dedicated our lives to investigating this state-corporate alliance against the free information movement. For this and other reasons, operations have been conducted against Booz Allen Hamilton, Unveillance, NATO, and other relevant institutions. The bulk of what we've uncovered thus far may be reviewed at a wiki maintained by my group Project PM,
echelon2.org.
Although Stratfor is not necessarily among the parties at fault in the larger movement against transparency and individual liberty, it has long been a "subject of interest" in our necessary investigation. The e-mails obtained before Christmas Day will vastly improve our ability to continue that investigation and thereby bring to light other instances of corruption, crime, and deception on the part of certain powerful actors based in the U.S. and elsewhere. Unlike the various agents of the U.S. Government, the hacking team that obtained this information did not break down the doors of the target, point guns at children, and shoot down any dogs that might have been present; Anonymous does not resort to SWAT tactics, and this is simply one of many attributes that separate the movement from the governments that have sought to end our campaign and imprison our participants. Of course, such points as these will not prevent our movement from being subjected to harsher scrutiny than is given to those governments which are largely forgiven their more intrusive tactics by virtue of their status as de facto holders of power in a world that has long been governed in accordance with the dictate that might makes right.
Incidentally, many of us are more than happy to proceed according to that amoral dictate if we find it to be necessary. And, increasingly, we have found it to be so.
Barrett Brown
Project PM
irc.project-pm.org (website was down last time we checked)
Hackers set to dump intel-analysis firm's emails By Kristina Wong (TheWashingtonTimes)
Stratfor's clients include federal agencies, corporations. Security analysts are bracing for the release of millions of emails that computer hackers stole from a
U.S. intelligence-analysis firm whose clients include federal agencies, large corporations and foreign countries.
The emails could reveal sensitive material to foreign spy agencies and corporate rivals about
Stratfor's clients, which include employees of the
Pentagon,
Bank of America and the Austrian armed forces, among others.
The hackers, identifying themselves as part of the collective "Anonymous," warn they will soon release more than 3.3 million emails and information about
Stratfor's website subscribers. They already have released names, website logins, passwords and credit card information for more than 50,000 subscribers whose names begin with A through M, and promise the release of N through Z.
"The repercussions from the
Stratfor emails could be as far reaching as the WikiLeaks release of 250,000
State Department cables," said cybersecurity expert
Richard Stiennon, who blogs at ThreatChaos.com.
In addition, the emails can be used to reveal identities and secret assignments, he said. "If a general or colonel has a secret responsibility, these could reveal that person's job and responsibility or particular project."
An unofficial spokesman for the hackers,
Barrett Brown, solicited volunteers online Tuesday, posting that 3.3 million "emails between some of the most powerful men in the world are about to be released."
"Please prepare to help search through them."
During an online chat late Wednesday, he said the emails would be released within the next day or two.
A
Stratfor spokesman said Thursday the company is aware of the hackers' claims, which it could not verify. He said
Stratfor is conducting an internal investigation with law enforcement agencies, including the
FBI.
The Department of Homeland Security and the
FBI did not respond to calls for comment.
A data- and identity-theft prevention expert criticized
Stratfor's lack of proper security measures.
"From what we can tell, the credit card numbers and credit card verification numbers were not encrypted. That's no good," said
Aaron Titus, privacy officer at Identity Finder. "That's definitely against the rules."
The subscribers' passwords were encrypted, but about 50 percent of them were cracked,
Mr. Titus said. If subscribers are using those same logins and passwords for other websites, other personal information could be at risk.
Stratfor was hacked earlier this week, but the hackers' first data dump could still be found online.
One of the subscribers listed is Houston police Officer Jay Chase, whose wife, Valerie, was disturbed when she heard his information was posted online.
Blackwater Settles Iraq Killings in Two Separate Legal Cases (CommonDreams)
The mercenary company formely known as Blackwater has settled two separate wrongful death cases stemming from its notorious operations during the US occupation of Iraq.
Ali Kinani, only nine years old at the time, was among the victims in the 2007 killings in Nisoor Square. The Charlotte Observer
reports:
[The military contracting firm] has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by six victims or their families in the Sept. 16, 2007 shootings in Baghdad's Nisoor Square, an incident that remains a flashpoint over the use of private contractors in war.
Charlotte law firm Lewis & Roberts represented the victims and announced the undisclosed settlement in a statement [Friday] evening.
"With respect to the Iraqi families and individuals who were plaintiffs in this lawsuit (it) provides them with compensation so they can now bring some closure to the losses they suffered," the statement reads.
The lawsuit was the last active civil suit stemming from the incident, in which five Blackwater guards were accused in 14 deaths.
On the same day, the company, now called Academi, settled with familes of former employees killed in another notorious event in Iraq. Al-Jazeera
reports:
The US private security company formerly known as Blackwater has agreed to settle a wrongful death legal case with the families of four of its contractors killed in a gruesome 2004 ambush that was a defining moment of the Iraq war for the American public.
The families reached a confidential settlement with Academi, as Blackwater is now known, agreeing to the dismissal of their case before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit based in Richmond, Virginia.
An administrator for the estates of the four dead contractors sued Blackwater in 2005 after they were beaten, burned and executed by Iraqi fighters while escorting a supply convoy in Fallujah.
Two of the charred bodies were strung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
Images of the events disturbed many Americans at one of the low points for the US during the Iraqi occupation.
Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe Services and then to Academi, came to symbolise the US policy of hiring private contractors to perform work previously handled by the military.
Greenpeace poisoned me By Kert Davies, Research Director, Greenpeace USA
Read the Greenpeace
blog and
listen to the Greenpeace Radio Podcast with Greg Palast, author of
Vultures' Picnic: In pursuit of petroleum pigs, power pirates and high-finance carnivores.
Then read this. It's my soul on a plate. Then pass it on so others can taste it.
-- gp "Occupy," Big Oil and the U.S. Media with Muckraking Journalist Greg Palast By Kevin J. Kelley [12.07.11] (
SevenDaysMagazine) Greg Palast was floating in a kayak off the Alaska coast in 1997 when he had an epiphany. He was working at the time as an investigator for the Chugach native people, whose lands had been slimed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. In the course of his study, Palast uncovered information about Exxon's culpability for the disaster, but he had no way of publicizing it. So he decided to become a journalist.
It's proven a successful second career for Palast, 59, who studied business at the University of Chicago under right-wing economist Milton Friedman. He's won six Project Censored awards for reporting important stories ignored by the mainstream press. He's also the author of two international best sellers,
Armed Madhouse and
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
A native Californian, Palast reports regularly for Britain's Guardian newspaper and for the BBC. Nation magazine writer Jim Hightower calls Palast "a cross between Sam Spade and Sherlock Holmes." Corporate executives he's outed as wrongdoers call Palast other things.
Palast spoke with Seven Days in advance of his scheduled talk next week at Burlington's Main Street Landing Film House.
Seven Days: You must be sympathetic to Occupy Wall Street. Do you think it will have a lasting impact on U.S. politics?
Greg Palast: It's not a setback for Occupy to no longer be occupying. No one gives a shit about Wall Street. It's just a piece of tarmac. It was never the point of the movement.
The point has been to expose the 1 percent, the movers and shakers who are moving and shaking us, all those rich motherfuckers. Now we know their names, where they live, how they made their billions.
So yeah, the impact has been huge. And it's just starting. I'm deeply involved with Occupy.
SD: You've got a new book out:
Vultures' Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates, and High- Finance Carnivores. Can you summarize what it's about?
GP: Vultures are financial speculators who seize the assets of the poorest nations by claiming these countries owe money that the speculators try to collect through intimidation, bribery and theft. One guy associated with this is Paul Singer; he's Mitt Romney's top economic adviser. I've been investigating how Romney's "job creator" makes his money, and that's a story Singer doesn't want you to hear.
By the way, I'm totally nonpartisan. Even though Singer owns the Republican Party, I point out that he rents the Democratic Party.
Most of the book is a five-continent investigation of British Petroleum. I'm bringing you the stuff you don't get from CNN or the Petroleum Broadcasting System.
BP's blowout in the Gulf in 2010 was actually the second big disaster it had. There was also a blowout in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan in 2008, but BP covered it up with a combination of bribery, beatings and blow jobs. [Azerbaijani officials] kept their lips closed and their zippers open.
SD: So your talk in Burlington is part of a book tour?
GP: I'm on a troublemaking tour. My talks are platforms for Occupy activists in their transition away from their fixation with real estate.
SD: You obviously come at stories from a left-wing perspective. Do you ever worry that your ideology might blind you to facts?
GP: I don't have an ideology. There's really only the truth and the not-truth. I'm just an old-fashioned gumshoe reporter.
The worst fucking thing about American journalism, by the way, is its "on-the-one-hand-this, on-the-other-that" approach. It really distorts or omits truth.
I exposed [Florida Secretary of State] Katherine Harris for purging thousands of black voters from the electoral rolls. That cost [Al] Gore the 2000 election. It was stolen from him. I documented it.
I could not get that story into the U.S. media. There was a total news blackout of what had happened. It finally got picked up by the L.A. Times, and they played the story as "Democrats accuse Republicans of removing black voters from the rolls; the Republicans deny that."
Jesus Christ! We don't have balanced news in the United States; it doesn't fucking exist. News here isn't reporting; it's repeating.
SD: Hang on. You write mostly for British outlets. Are you saying the British press is less influenced by corporate interests than the American press? The same financial dynamics are at work, right?
GP: Wrong. The Guardian is owned by a not-for-profit charitable trust. That's allowed it to become the most influential English-language paper in the world.
SD: More influential than the New York Times?
GP: The New York Times is influential in New York. People elsewhere see that it's — what shall we say? — incomplete.
The BBC is the gold standard of journalism. It's important to know it's neither corporate owned nor government owned. It's owned by subscribers, the people who pay £100 a year for a TV license.
SD: Yeah, but Britain doesn't have a First Amendment or a Freedom of Information Act.
GP: That's true, but the Brits could borrow our First Amendment, because we're not using it. And have you tried using FOIA lately? Good luck.
It's also true that I don't have any legal protection for stories in the British press. The resulting degree of self-censorship by some reporters is just astonishing.
But it's still not as bad as it is here. The entire front page of the Guardian last week had my coverage of Singer, Romney's biggest funder. There wasn't one mention of his role in the U.S. press.
SD: Staying with journalism for a minute, do you have a journalist hero? George Orwell, maybe?
GP: Only Christopher Hitchens is pompous enough to compare himself with Orwell. My model is Jack Anderson [a Pulitzer Prize-winning modern muckraker who broke scandals involving both Democrats and Republicans].
I also always admired Ron Ridenhour, the soldier who revealed the My Lai massacre [in which 500 Vietnamese villagers were killed by U.S. troops on March 16, 1968]. Ridenhour was the greatest investigative reporter of the last century. He died way too young [of a heart attack in 1998 at age 52].
The TV show "Columbo" had a big influence on me, too. I learned a lot from it about how to do investigations. Lt. Columbo was just totally dogged.
SD: How about Hunter Thompson? You've got an image like his.
GP: People make that connection all the time because we have Rolling Stone in common. But Thompson was a brilliant social analyst, and I'm just a gumshoe guy.
SD: You do look like an old-school reporter with that Humphrey Bogart hat of yours.
GP: I wear the hat because I'm bald and I'll get painfully sunburned otherwise.
SD: Matt Drudge wears the same kind of hat.
GP: Yeah, some people say I'm a left-wing Matt Drudge, but there's a big difference: Drudge is full of shit, and I'm full of information.
SD: You must be embarrassed that one of the first things on Google for "Greg Palast" is a 2009 piece you wrote saying what a great job Obama is doing.
GP: It was right after he took office. And it was nice to see him acting for one week like a real president.
SD: So what happened?
GP: Obama was reminded of who elected him. He brought into power guys like Tim Geithner and Larry Summers — Wall Street operatives and protégés of Robert Rubin, who was Clinton's Treasury secretary [and a Goldman Sachs and Citigroup executive].
Remember, it wasn't Bush who destroyed the economy; it was a guy named Bill Clinton.
They put the arm on Obama. They reminded him he's just a tenant.
SD: Do you worry about your safety?
GP: I very much fear for the safety of my sources. Some of them do end up in jail and/or beaten up. It's insanely dangerous for some of them to talk to me. One of my great sources was just charged with sedition. These guys are insanely courageous. But please don't give the impression that your life will be threatened if you become my source. That wouldn't be helpful.
SD: You're talking about incidents in other countries, right? You haven't had sources jailed or beaten up in the U.S., have you?
GP: Look at Bradley Manning, America's most heroic political prisoner [the U.S. Army soldier accused of supplying a cache of secret diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks]. Lots of Americans are facing the ruin of their careers for whistle-blowing.
Kenya, Stop Destroying the Nests of Sea Turtles! (CARE2)
Tourism is booming in Kenya, which is excellent news for the country's economy.
But even as tourists flood the country, developers are ravaging the habitats of endangered sea turtles.
Protect Kenyan sea turtles today. » Legal and illegal developments are springing up all along the coast, spoiling what were once pristine beaches and
ruining turtle nesting grounds. Turtles already face tremendous threats, from pollution, climate change, hunting, egg collection and plastic waste.
The last thing they need is to lose yet more nesting grounds.
Kenya needs to look after its ocean wildlife, as much for the sake of its own future economy as for the wildlife itself.
Call on Kenya to promote sustainable tourism before it's too late. » Thanks for taking action!
Kathleen
ThePetitionSite
Maldives: The Next Atlantis? Commentary by Captain Locky MacLean (SSCS)
When one thinks of world class diving, the tiny Republic of the Maldives immediately comes to mind. Keen divers travel from all corners of the globe to this Indian Ocean island nation. They come to marvel at the biodiversity its atolls and islands shelter under their shores.
The Maldivian islands, once considered a global leader in sustainable fishing and climate change talks, spurred on by the Republic's vulnerability to sea level rise, now seem to be spiralling into the lucrative abyss of longlining, marine mammal trafficking, unsustainable aquaculture, and destruction of habitat.
While anchored in the Maldives this November, the crew members of Sea Shepherd's ship the Brigitte Bardot were contacted by local Maldivian activists. The activists proclaimed they had tried all the proper channels in an attempt to protect their environment. They had tried to hold their government to its campaign promises, without success, and the time had come for direct action.
In a meeting with Sea Shepherd Captain Lockhart MacLean and crew member/marine scientist Zoe Beckett, members of the Maldivian dive community voiced their concerns about the future of the Maldives environment and the need for the world to know about the issues facing this delicate and fragile eco-system.
For centuries the Maldivians have maintained a sustainable tuna fishery based on the traditional, dolphin safe pole and line method, UNTIL NOW.
Sea Shepherd has been informed that while maintaining the DOLPHIN SAFE logo on their tuna products, Maldives has allowed for longlining to start replacing pole and line, without rebranding the packaging to inform customers of this change in fishing methods.
Maldivian longliners are already searching for foreign companies to cooperate with them in this destructive venture.
In October, Maldives President Mohammed Nashid approved a lease to Maldives star tennis player and developer Amir Mansoor. This lease, backed by the Ministry of Finance and the Department of National Planning, would allow for the building of a captive dolphinarium inside a lagoon, which would be sealed off from the surrounding waters. To appease local activists, Mr. Mansoor claimed the dolphins would not be local Maldivian species. They would instead be imported from overseas, opening the door to speculation on whether these would be Taiji dolphins.
In an overtly corrupt fashion, Maldives National Planning Council has been awarding lucrative lagoon reclamation projects and leases, which replace marine habitat and reef systems with hotels and resorts, to well placed politicians such as the Chairman of the Ruling Party, Reeko Moosa Manik, and Sim Ibrahim Mohamed, the husband of Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa.
Furthermore, in a bid to increase profits, mangroves in northern Maldivian atolls are being destroyed to make way for sea cucumber farming planned for Chinese export.
A sensitive, shallow lagoon, currently a critical Manta Ray breeding ground, has been leased to sea cucumber farmers. Although approved, construction has not yet commenced. There is time to stop this!
These sea cucumber varieties are non-native, and apart from the obvious destruction of mangrove habitat (which is essential to maintaining healthy fish populations), there is lack of research on the impact of this intensive monoculture upon local biodiversity.
Another issue facing the Maldivian nation is coral mining for construction. This has been listed as one of the major contributing factors to reef destruction and in all likelihood is responsible for the island of Male, the capital of Maldives, slowly sinking under its own weight.
Could it be that the Maldives is the next Atlantis? An island paradise with bountiful resources, whose human population has been sustained for hundreds of years by the delicate balance it maintains with the marine life surrounding its 1900 atolls and islands, all destroyed in a few short decades due to greed and short-sightedness.
The two top contributors to the Maldives economy are Tourism (over 30%) and Fishing (around 10%).
The introduction of longlining last year in Maldives has made way for by-catch in the Tuna Fishery. Dive tourism in Maldives depends on sharks, rays and turtles, which are all vulnerable to by-catch. This industrial fishing method has outcompeted the traditional and more sustainable pole and line fishermen, who will have to convert to longlining to survive.
In a dangerous downward spiral of destruction, it looks as though the Maldives government is signing away their environmental legacy in the name of short-term economic gain and corrupt pocket-lining.
It is time for the international community and lovers of the sea to take action before the bounty and uniqueness of this island nation is lost. In the words of Captain Paul Watson "extinction is forever."
ACTION Please visit the below links and write to the Maldives government offices listed below to voice your opposition to: Dolphinarium, Tuna longlining, Coral Mining and Lagoon Reclamation, Sea-Cucumber Aquaculture and destruction of Manta Ray breeding habitat.
Maldives President's Office
http://www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv/Index.aspx?lid=6 Department of National Planning, Ministry of Finance and Treasury
npc@planning.gov.mv Ameenee MaguMale', 20125, Rep. of Maldives Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture
5th Floor, velaanaage
Ameeru Ahmed Magu
Block 20096
Male', Republic of Maldives
General Tel:
(+960)3323224 (+960)3323226 Fax:
(+960)3322512 E-mail:
info@tourism.gov.mv Links, articles, and sources: Please find below some information on the various environmental issues in the Maldives.
1. Dolphinariums
http://scuba-tribe.com/news/governmentleasinglagoontocreateadolphinpark http://scuba-tribe.com/news/earthislandinstitutepressreleas http://scuba-tribe.com/articles/dolphinstodaywhatmoretomorrow http://minivannews.com/environment/dolphin-lagoon-to-offer-conservation-education-recreation-27790 http://minivannews.com/environment/comment-against-dolphin-captivity-27894 http://wetpixel.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t43732.html Some of the current petitions:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/21/Stop-Dolphin-Lagoon-in-Maldives/ http://apps.facebook.com/petitions/21/Stop-Dolphin-Lagoon-in-Maldives/ 2. Reclamation of lagoons that would destroy several dive sites in the Maldives and cause the loss of the habitat of a number of mantas and other species
http://maldives.net.mv/320/maldives-to-utilize-lagoons-in-male-atoll-for-tourist-facilities/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reeko_Moosa_Manik 3. Long-line fishery
http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/blog/biodiversity/long-line-fishery-controversy-maldives http://minivannews.com/environment/cabinet-approves-long-line-fishing-for-maldivian-vessels-5385 Maldivian companies are already searching for foreign companies to do large scale long-line fishery:
http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/103012840/Look_For_Cooperation_For_Longline_Fishing.html 4. Aquaculture projects that threatens mangroves and habitats of species
http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/blog/biodiversity/cabinet-decides-to-lease-dhigulaabadhoo http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/blog/biodiversity/kendhikulhudhoo-mangroves-under-threat http://millzero.com/blog/?p=435 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nios/5277968375/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nios/5277968381/ A video of Maldives president promoting an illegal sea cucumber project:
http://www.haveeru.com.mv/video/328 ----
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 the 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.
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 Yemeni, 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 Ghanaian hostages include Edward Kofi Asare, Francis Koomson Snr. , Jewel Amiable and a fourth person whose identity is not yet known.
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. According to Lloyd's List Intelligence is associated with Azal Shipping & Trading of Dubai. Azal Contracting & Oil Services Corp. is a private firm with many activities specialized in different field of services and investment. According to it's phony brochures AZAL utilizes both its assets and resources efficiently and takes full and early advantages of technical advances and markets needs. Our philosophy is based on blending individuals to form strategic partnerships with multinational corporations.. The ISO 9002 accreditation is a clear signal to our valued clients that Azal Blue Bell Shipping provides a consistently reliable quality services.
Apart from these phoney website texts, early reports that the MV ICEBERG 1 was actually the bully for all of the dirty work to be done in the region and at least for some time linked to a stealth shipping conglomerate, which is listed under SCORPIO TANKERS on the US register - apparently linked to the Getty family of the USA, could not be verified yet.
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 a ccording 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 and in reality is only the manager, 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 27. October 2010 Wagdi Akram, the third officer, a Yemeni and father of four, 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 just 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 verified until Satnam Singh, a rescued seaman from MV SUEZ, who returned home, independently confirmed on 24. June 2011 that 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 confirmed the report we had received. But until a full and independent investigation into this horrible case is carried out, also the death of the first officer remains a mystery, since insider reports stated the man posed the greatest risk to those who want to see him dead, because he knows all the dirty secrets of MV ICEBERG 1. He himself had allegedly stated earlier that even if the vessel and crew would come free, he would be killed.
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 been able to make phone contact with the hostages since June 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 further south to Ceel Dhanaane.
On 04. September 2011 it was then reported that the vessel had lost both its anchors and drifted to the shore, where the propeller got stuck in sand. According to a statement of the captain on 10. September the ship could still sail out to sea, if the pirates would allow him to manoeuvre the vessel. The ro-ro vessel, which has a certain capacity to sit on the sand and to sail free again, is believed to not have been damaged by the episode.
However, insider reports stated that the crew had received secret order to put the vessel on the beach to force a new situation on the hostage takers. Somali communities along these shores therefore became very much concerned and threatened the pirate group to not allow such to happen, because of fears that containers, marked toxic, which are carried on the vessel, could put them into serious danger.
Mid September 2011 the Indian Directorate General of Shipping falsely informed the families that the vessel had been freed and would dock on 19. September in Aden. Investigations into the question, who gave this false information to DG Shipping in the first place, pointed into the direction of the vessel manager, who acts as "owner" and who had claimed to have a deal with one part of the split pirate group. The faked information was spread by DG Shipping with such convincing tenor that immediately groups, which hadn't done anything to contribute a release went to the media to secure for themselves a place among the "rescuers" - all causing unbelievable anxiety and agony in the poor families of the hostages in India, Pakistan, Sudan, Ghana and Yemen.
Our local marine observers did provide mid October 2011 video evidence on the present location and the appalling situation of the vessel, stranded at the Somali coast with the toxic-fuel containers owned by the British company INNOSPEC Ltd. still on board. Meanwhile a legal move has been instigated to force the Government of India to declare if their officials are willing to do anything for the rescue of their nationals.
On 20. October 2011 the Punjab high court in Lahore and the Haryana High Court, having taken cognizance of a petition filed under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India by way of Public Interest, issued notices to the Union of India after hearing a plea by Chandigarh-based lawyer Ranjan Lakhanpal joined by Pakistani national Ansar Burney as co-petitioner. The notices by a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice R N Rainato and addressed to the Union ministries of external affairs (MEA) and defence (MOD) asked them to respond to the contentions raised in the petition until 4. November 2011, when the next hearing will be held concerning the freeing of the seafarers.
For a third time the families of the hostage seafarers were cast into anxiety when on 23. October 2011a phony website report and following suit an online newspaper from the UAE started again a media frenzy about "the release" of the vessel and crew, describing details when the vessel would arrive in Salalah and praising individuals as well as the "efforts of the UAE government" - which actually were and are nil, otherwise they would have arrested the vessel manager since long. Family members call the manager of Azal Shipping since over a year a liar, who neverpicks their desperate calls any more, and at least one line of this latest disinformation campaign was tracked back to him. But also another line, which spoke of the release of only the two Pakistani crew members is worth to be investigated as source of this media nonsense. The Somali pirates, who spoke to their friends in Mombasa / Kenya confirmed that no ransom was received and nobody had been released. Intelligence sources of Lloyd's List traced on 27. October 2011 the source of their disinformation to "private security sources active in the Gulf of Aden". The vessel is still sitting tight on the beach at position 07'00"N and 049'22"E around 100nm north of Hobyo to where it had drifted from 6'58"N and 049'21"E while the crew was suffering like never before. Meanwhile some the crew is been held on land during the day to cook and they are brought back onto the ship during night.
A media disinformation campaign was triggered by unscrupulous sources in October and beginning of November 2011, seriously endangering the hostages. Especially media from the UAE seem to have been paid to disseminate false information, allegedly partly provided by the manager company but mostly by sources kept anonymous, about an alleged payment of a ransom - only contributing to the general confusion, the anxiety of next of kin of the hostages, the fighting among the pirate group holding the crew, their increasing demands and seriously endangering the seafarers.
Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, on 10. November 2011 unveiled plans by the government to seek the release of four Ghanaians being held captive by Somali Pirates since 2010. He said government would continue to pressurise the management of Azal Shipping, the shipping vessel on which the Ghanaians are held captive to secure their release. So far efforts by Ghana's Mission in Dubai to contact the ship owners have proved futile.
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 been 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 a 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 PRANTALAY 12 beached on 14 July 2011. The Somali group, which was holding the last vessel of a fleet of three captured fishing vessels from Thailand, FV PRANTALAY 12, released on 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 5 or 6 of the crew-members had died already in the horrible ordeal, as we reported earlier , four crew of Thai nationality were then 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 believed the group holding the vessel, seen already earlier as unseaworthy by NATO officials, would still try to get the ship afloat, but lacked 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.
Their 14 fellow crew-mates, who were released by the pirates at the end of July 2011 and reached relative safety on 02. August in Garowe - but despite that the Puntland government had handed them to the UN and the UN organization IOM (International Organization for Migration) had promised their immediate repatriation - were held in Puntland's capital Garowe. This time they were held not by sea-pirates but by the reluctance of the officials, who earlier promised to facilitate the repatriation and by the absolute neglect of the vessel owner and the Myanmar government, whose military Junta apparently doesn't give a damn about their fate. Only after nearly four months, in November, finally their repatriation came through, while the four Thai crew-members were still being held hostage against a ransom and seem to be completely forgotten by the shipowner. According to diplomatic sources, the government in Bangkok is allegedly in contact with the vessel owner, but shipping sources said that he had disappeared and left the country. Similarly, the pleads by the families to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva have remained unheard. The crew says, P.T. INTERFISHERY the operator and subsidiary of PRANTALAY company, which makes millions out of their often clandestine fishing operations and exports the goods to the USA, Canada, Japan, EU, Russia, Australia etc under the company name UNION FROZEN PRODUCT Co., Ltd. must be held responsible for abandoning the seamen. The business conglomerate with a fleet of 14 ships but no valid licences to fish in the Indian Ocean, is part and parcel of a rich Thai family conglomerate headed by a man sporting the name Dr. Thongchai Tavannapong as well as his wife, who keep phony sentences concerning social responsibility and environment protection on their website, but did for many months absolutely nothing to even repatriate the freed part of the crew hailing from Burma (Myanmar) or to free the four Thai seafarers: Mr. Channarong Nawara - Captain - 58 years, Mr. Ton Wiyasing - Chief Officer - 35 years, Mr. Kosol Duangmakerd - Chief Engineer - 43 years and Mr. Tanakon Keokumkong - Oiler - 33 years.
Reportedly Chief Officer Ton Wiyangsing died in captivity on 18. November 2011, but this could not independently be confirmed by our observers and was meanwhile proven to have been a false information spread by the pirates to increase pressure. 5 of the crew had died earlier in captivity, 1 is missing or also dead and now only 4 Thai sailors remain from this case in captivity Somalia following the release of the Burmese.
4 SOUTH KOREAN CREW OF 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 hostages on 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 had by then then commenced.
The Somali pirates were holding among the other hostages also four South Koreans on MT GEMINI and demanded on 15 July 2011 through different media and phoney websites that the South Korean government must specifically release those Somali pirate prisoners jailed in South Korea and pay compensation for several of their relatives killed by a commando raid earlier this year on MV SHAMO DREAM
"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 hand s," 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.
The vessel andd the majority of the crew were then released against a substantial ransom on 01. December 2011, but four South-Korean nationals were held back and are now used as bargaining chip for the release of Somali pirates imprisoned by the South-Korean Government.
According to the rest of the crew, who arrived safely in Mombasa after the release against ransom, the gang holding the four Koreans has threatened that they will kill the South Korean Nationals, if the the South Korean Government will not release the Somalis. However, latest reports from the ground state that the gang holding the Koreans are in negotiations with the vessel owner again and so it seems that the task is either a swap for the 6 Somalis convicted of piracy in the case of MV SHAMHO DREAM and/or again a substantial ransom as bloodprice for the 10 Somalis killed in the gun-battle, which freed that South Korean vessel shortly before MT GEMINI was captured.
Apparently the South Korean Government is not ready yet for an exchange and has urged the vessel owner to pay again for the release of the rest of the crew.
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 vessel were 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 were then held for a long time 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. The vessel was then moved to Ceel Dhanaane, where negotiations sporadically continued while conflicts among the pirate gang persist. According to reports from family members the company informed them that the crew had been released on 08. January 2012 - but not yet the vessel.
MSV NASTA AL YEMEN : Reportedly seized on Sept. 14, 2010. Number of crew yet unknown, but presumed 9. Further report awaited from Yemen.
7 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.
A report spread by a Somalia website that two of these seven hostages had meanwhile died could not independently be verified or confirmed.
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. T he 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. said on 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.'
While abducted yacht SY CHOIZILwas still held at the Somali coast, the couple was at that time said to be held somewhere in the area south 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 f ive 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. It was revealed that the sea-shifta actually wanted to use the sailing yacht as decoy to kidnap other and richer victims from Kenya.
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, who had presented contradicting stories (see above).
At the point of months ten in the hostage ordeal, 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 by contributing to the trust fund.
PLEASE GO TO www.sosbrunodebbie.co.za and help the family to get the two sailors free!
Background:
Bruno Pelizzari (52) is the only son of a widowed mother in her 80′s, and a father of two, who was en route to see his newly-born grandson, Calvin, when he was kidnapped.
Debbie Calitz (49) is a mother of four children, and was also on the way to see her new grandson, Dominic. She doesn't know about her second granddaughter, Niquita, who was born in September 2011, and a third one is now on the way.
Usually pirates attack large ships carrying valuable cargo, covered by insurance and backed by large companies. These are two working-class individuals with no ship, no cargo and no insurance.
Chronological Timeline: - 23 Oct 2010: A basic South African yacht, the Choizil, set out from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Richards Bay, South Africa for repairs. Captained by Peter Eldridge, with Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz as crew
- 26 Oct 2010: Yacht hijacked by 12 pirates as it was about to enter the Madagascar / Mozambique Channel. Pirates changed the course Northbound. When the Choizil approached the Somali coastline, a naval vessel attempted to assist, but kept its distance, for fear of hostages being harmed.
- 6 Nov 2010: The yacht was beached at Baraawe, Somalia. The two crew members were taken ashore but skipper Peter Eldridge refused to leave his vessel, despite being severely beaten, and was later rescued by members of the naval vessel.
Families were notified by the Department of International Relations that the couple had been taken hostage. - 14 Dec 2010: Families in SA received the first call from the pirates. Initial ransom demand was US $10 million.
- 28 Mar 2011: Ransom had been dropped to US $500,000 (half a million).
- 19 Aug 2011: Ransom demand increased and currently stands at US $4 million, after interference with negotiations.
- 22 Aug 2011: First communication with one of the hostages, thus confirming they are still alive! Bruno Pelizzari was allowed, by his captors, to speak briefly to his sister, only to confirm that they (the hostages) would not be released without the payment of a ransom.
- 18 Oct 2011: The family negotiator was permitted to speak to and record the conversations with both Bruno and Debbie; with a view for the families to use the recording on any media platform possible in order to generate the funds to obtain the release of both hostages.
There is now a good response from the public to help, but the result is still far from what the Somali captors expect and in addition it contributes significantly to hostilities against Somalis living in South Africa, who had experienced already earlier deadly events of xenophobia.
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.
While the pirates are said to be demanding an outragiously high ransom to free MV Albedo and its 23 crew members, the family of Muhammad Mujtaba, the chief officer of the Malaysian-flagged ship, has re-launched a struggle for the release of the Pakistani sailor. Neelum Mujtaba, accompanied by her three daughters and an infant son, arrived at the end of September in Karachi from their hometown of Mansehra to explore avenues for the release of her husband.However, her efforts soon fell short, PressTV reported, as she was living in a far-off town with no senior official around and no access to the media. "I finally took my children and made contacts with the six other families, whose loved ones are in captivity with my husband, and arrived in Karachi to launch my efforts anew, Mujtaba said.
Somalia Report reported Dec 04 2011 pirates released the Malaysian boxship Albedo after they received a ransom on Dec 3, but that was unfortunately again one of the many false reports.
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.
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.
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 (aka Hsiuh 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 wanted to go on another piracy mission. The vessel is, however, now beached on the shores of Ceel Dhanaane with the owner as of December 2011 obviously not being able to secure the release of the 29 crew, who are held off their vessel as slave labourers in the hands of Somalis.
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.
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, b ut 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 five month, were kept hidden away in the bush of the coastal hinterland. At present they are said to be held near Wisil in Galmudug Regional State.
FV NN IRAN (Reg: 4/2742) : Seized January 14, 2011. 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.
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. Knowing that an outrageous ransom demand never will be met, the vessel is used now as mothership in piracy missions. The vessel is missing and wanted.
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 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 August 09, 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 first said to have been released at the shores of Bargaal against a substantial payment and had disappeared into the mountains above Xull, but later reports claimed that the group actually was taken then by the same fishing dhow to Kismayo, while the vessel and crew are still commandeered by the pirate group. Further reports are awaited.
MT FAIRCHEM BOGEY : Seized August 20, 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 to be loaded with Methanol, 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.
Vessel and hostage crew arrived meanwhile off Garcad at the north-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, where it is anchored now.
The vessel management company Anglo-Eastern Ship Management of Mumbai has sent its top executive group CEO Peter Cremers, who is greatly concerned for the well being of the crew and is doing his utmost as the manager of the ship, to hold talks with the sea pirates.
"Does it really take this much time for the authorities to free my son? When he spoke to me in November 1, he said the ship was running short of food, drinking water and oil," stated Jalaja, mother of Thalikkulam native sailor Rohit, 26, who is one among captives, publicly. "The ship management officials say they are in constant touch with the pirates and that negotiations for ransom money are on. They also say all sailors are safe inside the ship. However, when I spoke to Rohit last time, he said the captain and the chief engineer were being tortured by the pirates, said Rohit's brother Sachin.
Fed up with waiting, relatives of the hijacked sailors held a protest in front of the office of the company in Mumbai for a week from November 3. "The management then assured us of taking necessary steps to get the sailors released as soon as possible. In the first a few days leaders of all political parties, including defence minister A K Antony, chief minister Oommen Chandy, MLAs and MPs contacted us and assured of any kind of help." But their promises proved futile.
55-year-old Muhammed Nanki, the chief cook of the vessel who hails from Mogral of Kasargod district, and is the other Keralite aboard the hijacked ship, called up his family on 22. November over a satellite phone and informed about the shortage of food and drinking water. He also told his family that power and oil in the ship were almost over and that it had been days since they took bath.
FV AL AMIN (aka AL AIN) : Seized August 27, 2011. The Yemeni fishing vessel, obviously engaged in illegal fishing, was attacked in waters off Somalia's Puntland regional state during the afternoon of 27. August 2011 off the tip of the Horn of Africa en route to Alula district of Puntland. Since the captors opened fire on the dhow 3 fishermen were wounded. 9 of the 13 Yemeni fishermen crew 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.
MV NN : Seized: August 31, 2011. According to Puntland Ports Minister Said Mohamed Rage two commercial vessels were hijacked by pirates on 29 August and 31 August, after leaving Bossaso harbour. The two vessels were transporting livestock for export from Puntland's Bossaso port to the Arabian Peninsula. On Saturday, Puntland security sources told Somali news agency Garowe Online that the first vessel has been arrested by Omani naval forces and NATO naval forces have surrounded the hijacked vessel and the pirates of the second case.
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 on e 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.
MT LIQUID VELVET : Seized October, 31 2011. At 08H58 UTC on 31, October 2011 MT LIQUID VELVET (IMO 9083940) (named Liquid Challenge before 01.10.2009) came under attack by armed Somalis in 1 skiff in position 1200N and 04533E - around 55nm Southeast of Aden, Yemen. A piracy alert was raised by the Maritime Security Centre. NATO later confirmed that at 11h52 UTC on 31, October 2011 the merchant vessel actually had been hijacked en route from Port Suez to Mormugao, Goa, India in the protected Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). Three hours had obviously passed without any navy coming to rescue the situation.
The vessel was fully complying with BMP4, but after the pirates boarded the tanker and the crew, including 1 unarmed security advisor, were hiding in the citadel, the pirates broke in and sea-jacked the tanker.
It has meanwhile been clarified that the captured vessel is identified to be the Marshall Islands-flagged and Greek-owned - formerly MT Liquid Challenge or MT Shina - and not her in 2007 renamed namesake managed from Singapore, which is called today MT BEN.
The 1994 built double hulled chemical tanker of 11,599 dwt is owned by the Greek firm ELMIRA TANKERS and operator is Elmira Tankers Management S.A., while Minimal Enterprise Co. serves as registered owner and owner-manager. It was confirmed that the ship is manned by a crew of 21 Filipino seafarers and a security advisor from Greece, who is of Australian nationality.
The vessel is insured by Assuranceforeningen Skuld - Norway.
Neither EU NAVFOR, which is supposed to watch the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden, nor the ICCommerce/IMO Piracy monitoring center have so far even reported the case.
"We have hijacked the tanker and it is due to anchor near the shores of Garad," Khalif told Reuters by telephone from the pirate haven of Dhanane.
The owner of the tanker is taking responsibility for the release of the crew that included 21 Filipino seamen, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines stated. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said this latest incident brings to 43 Filipino seamen on board five ships in the hands of Somali pirates. Hernandez said the families of the crew members were already informed by the local manning agency of the abduction. At the same time, the DFA has instructed the Philippine embassies in Nairobi and Manama to monitor the situation and coordinate as well with the Philippine embassy in Athens, on the negotiations being undertaken by the vessel's principal.
The vessel and crew are now held hostage for ransom off Midcunyo at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast and pirates have demanded an exorbitant ransom.
FV ARIDE : Seized October 30, 2011. According to Seychellois seafarer's union official Albert Nappier and the Seychelles government the small motor-cruiser - allegedly used for tourist fishing trips - was captured around 65nm West of Mahe.
Marine observers working with ECOTERRA Intl. had first spotted the two male hostages during the first week of November around Hobyo, while now they are said to be held off the Harardheere - Dawaco area. Ecop-marine sent first a quiet and then a public alert, which was responded to from the Seychelles, but so far the authorities of the island nation of the Seychelles did not release the actual nationalities and identities of the two men.
Local observers report one man of European decent and one man of African decent from the Seychelles were seized together with their motor-yacht and allegedly interesting cargo. Negotiations for men and cargo have commenced.
MSV KRISHNA SUDAN [aka Krishna Sedan or Kirishna Sidan or Krishna Sadan ("House of God") ]: Seized December 18, 2011. The cargo dhow was seized off Kismayo port, at the Southern Somali Indian Ocean coast, while on her way together with two other cargo dhows to the United Arab Emirates. All three vessels were loaded with illegal charcoal, but the two other dhows escaped.
The three illegally operating cargo-dhows were collecting the contraband for customers in the United Arab Emirates. MSV KRISHNA SADAN has been captured together with 12 Indian nationals and allegedly two Somalis on board.
The seized vessel belongs to an Indian company, which regularly circumvents the embargo set by the Indian government while cross-flagging the vessel with an UAE and sometimes a Somali flag.
Some reports say that the dhow was taken towards the Archipelago of the Seychelles, but that could so far not independently be confirmed.
The navies have not reported the incident. DG Shipping in Mumbai has been informed.
It is also not clear yet if the case is a business dispute or if pirates want to use the vessel for further missions or - as they have done previously - use one of these dhows as a sea-taxi to either launch their attack skiffs or to pick up stranded colleagues.
Vessel and crew are missing and wanted.
MT ENRICO LEVOLI (aka ENRICO lEVOLI): Seized December 27, 2011. Somali pirates hijacked the Italian flagged and Italian owned chemical tanker MT ENRICO LEVOLI in position 17.35N - 56.52E, some 30 nm off the Omani coast, the owners confirmed. The vessel was en route from Fujairah UAE to Yumurtalık, Adana Province, Turkey. At about 03h00 UTC (06h00 local time) the company was informed that the tanker was under pirate attack while navigating off the coast of the Sultanate of Oman and the master immediately had also alerted the Italian Coastguard Headquarters. The vessel was hijacked while it was heading toward the randevouz point with the chinese armed convoy.
The chemical tanker is loaded with 15,750 tons of caustic soda, which could if leaks occur pose a serious environmental hazard and a health risk to people on board. Mangers and owners of the vessel, Marnavi S.P.A, Napoli, Italy and Marnavi offshore SRL, Napoli, Italy, respectively enjoy an unblemished and outstanding reputation in the safe transport and carriage of liquid chemicals and other cargo.
The crew of 18 seafarers consists of 6 Italian, 5 Ukranians and 7 Indians.
Judging from news and owner's press-release, there were no armed guards on board, the Maritime Bulletin stated, though the Italian government signed in October a protocol with shipowners' association Confitarma allowing the presence of military forces or private guards on board merchant vessels,becase it is apparently not yet operational.
The MT ENRICO LEVOLI (IMO 9188415), a chemical tanker of 16,630 dwt, was built in 2000, is flagged by Italy and owned by Marnavi SPA, Napoli, whose chairman and owner is listed as Sen. Domenico Levoli. To-day they have a modern fleet of 35 vessels trading worldwide with a total capacity of 170000 DWT, These include 13 stainless steel tankers ranging from 26500 DWT.
Just two days prior to the hijacking, on 25. December 2011 NATO had sent an alert saying a merchant vessel reported 3 skiffs acting suspiciously in the Gulf of Oman, approximately 30nm off the coast of Iran in position 2458N 06020E. The 138-metre (453-foot) vessel reported that the skiffs closed to 3.5nm and then the vessel used self-protective measures and increased speed but to nop avail.
"Together with the crisis unit, I am closely following the hijacking of the Ievoli," Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said in a message on Twitter, calling for "strict discretion to ensure a positive outcome".
But the captain's wife, Rita Musumeci, said she had been told of the hijacking by journalists and had had no official word from the government.
"It's shameful. No-one from the state has called us. They're warm with their families. What do they care?" she was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency. "It's absurd that journalists gave me the news... In these kinds of cases even a small word of comfort can be helpful," she said.
The ministry responded that it was in "close contact" with the families.
Gennaro Ievoli, another Marnavi executive, stated according to : "We will manage to bring them home, all of them, and without a scratch."
The crew and their chemical tanker are now held hostage off the North-Eastern Somali coast close to Dinoowda.
Please send any report concerning these vessels or any other information 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: Hostage taking is one of the most heinous crimes - unknown to any other species on earth! TWO FOREIGN AID WORKERS KIDNAPPED IN CENTRAL SOMALIA
At around 15h00 (local time) on Tuesday, 25. October 2011, Somali gunmen kidnapped two foreign aid worker in the Somali town of Galkayo. The 60-year-old Danish man and the 32-year-old American woman were working for the Danish Demining Group (DDG) when they were seized not far from the Galkayo airport. The airport is jointly managed by the Puntland and the Galmudug Regional States of Somalia. If the Somali colleague who was with them in Northern Somalia is likewise a victim or part of the set-up is not clear yet. The American, Mrs. Jessica Buchanan, is a former a former school teacher from Rosslyn, Virginia/USA, and worked as Regional Education Advisor for the Danish Demining Group, which helps dispose of unexploded bombs and teaches communities about the dangers of land mines and other ordinance, according to its website. Danish Poul Thisted, 60, is said to be an experienced explosives expert. The role of the kidnapped aid workers was unclear, stated AP.
Denmark's minister for development cooperation, Christian Friis Bach, told the Danish media that the demining group was working to help Somali people. "That's why it's both sad and tragic that they have been struck by this kidnapping, and I hope their strong network and a collected effort also by the Foreign Ministry can resolve the situation quickly," he said.
The head of the Danish Refugee Council's International Department in Copenhagen, Ann Mary Olsen said: As a first priority, we have been concentrating on the ongoing investigations. We are keeping close contact with the family members, who are deeply concerned, just as we are. She added: We have informed the family members and we are in close contact with them. We are all deeply concerned with the situation, but we request the media to respect the privacy of the families during this difficult time. Media inquiries are the last thing on their minds at this point. According to Ann Mary Olsen, the staff members were very experienced and trained to work difficult places like Somalia. The Danish Refugee Council has been working there since 1998. Their activity in the area of Galkayo is now temporarily on hold.
Meanwhile it has transpired that the hostages, who had been kidnapped on their way to the airport after completing an awareness training on the dangers of mines and other explosives in Galkayo, have been taken to a remote location in the southern part of Galmudug Regional state, where also abducted Judith Tebbutt and two Spanish aid-workers as well as numerous other hostages, including two Danes and seven Indians are held on land by different pirate and desperado groups.
On 29. October 2011 two Somali pirates were killed and three others wounded when rival gangs clashed over the control of the hostages.
The two foreign aid workers are alive and well, the Danish aid group said on the last Sunday of October. "I have been told that contact was established today, and I am pleased to announce that both Poul and Jessica are doing well given the circumstances," said Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department. The deputy police chief of Galmudug regional state, Abdi Hasan Gorey, visited the pirates to begin negotiations on 30. October 2011. The hostages were being treated well and were being fed camel meat and milk, the same food as the pirates were eating, Gorey told Ekstra Bladet
One man, Abdirisak Moalin Dhere, who was responsible for the security of the hostages while in Somalia allegedly has confessed that he had conspired with the pirates to abduct the pair.
"It is important to emphasize that the Danish Refugee Council has a policy which clearly states that the organization does not negotiate with kidnappers," Ann Mary Olsen, the head of DRC's international department, said in the statement.
She noted that DRC had appealed for help from elders, clan leaders and the general public, adding: "We are incredibly grateful for the help and support we meet from the Somali society. We hope it will help facilitate a rapid release of our two kidnapped employees."
Elders in the region said during the first week of November that the pair were reportedly being held for ransom in the coastal Hobyo district, a notorious pirate den.
A Somali colleague seized at the same time was released and is being questioned by police, according to local sources. Two Spanish aid-workers abducted and one Kenyan driver kidnapped
A Somali gang did strike again on 13. October 2011 abducting four people in Ifo, part of the world's largest refugee camp around Dadaab in Kenya. The two Spanish aid workers Blanca Thiebaut, 30, and Montserrat Serra y Ridao, 40, working with Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres - Espana) were seized from the Dadaab refugee camp on 13. October 2011 and were in the company of two local, Kenyan counterparts when they were attacked, but had no security personnel with them. Their driver escaped with a gunshot wound to the neck, while earlier a Kenyan driver working for the USAmerican charity CARE was reportedly abducted. On 21 September 2011 three CARE workers left the vehicle and driver alone while attending to a local problem with refugees. Then "three men came to to the driver, with one pointing a pistol at him", and went away with him in the car, said McGurk, CARE's acting country director, though it is not clear, who corroborated this or if the driver didn't just took a leave of absence to sell the car across the border. At least the three aid workers weren't taken.
Meanwhile the car of the two Spanish MSF logisticians, who just recently had started working in Kenya, was found stuck in the mud just across the disputed border - but by then the hostages and their kidnappers were gone. Two days later the Kenyan air-force and then the army invaded Somalia - according to official statements to pursue the kidnappers and defend the legitimate security interests of the Republic of Kenya based on Article 51 of the UN Charter (*). The Kenyan airmen and troops engaged armed Somali groups at a village called Bilis Qooqaani, around 50 km inside Somalia. According to local officials and international media reports around 80 Somalis were killed - with some reports suggesting that many were women and children who got killed by attacks from the air.
Local observers confirmed that the two hostages by then were already in Central Somalia, where they are held in the coastal hinterland. One analysts stated: "The moment we heard that with MSF Spain's strategy a British security company now got involved and talks with Somali officials are held, we knew that it will take ages and a lot of money to get the hostages free," one analysts stated already in November 2011. The head of MSF Spain was then seen shortly before Christmas to rebuff critical questions by stating that they want to keep the case quiet. Reportedly the negotiations for a release instigated by risk company on behalf of MSF Spain have broken down.
(*) Article 51 (UN CHARTER) Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security. PROBLEM with invoking this article as base for the military invasion of Somalia by Kenya is that the UN has taken many measures on Somalia already, and as a matter of fact is governing and fostering the Somali quagmire. Selfhelp therefore would be ruled out and this act of war be illegal.
Having realized the difficulties to justify their war of aggression by invoking such inapplicable legal framework, the Kenya Government then dropped this line and shifted to an attempt to obtain a legal status for their troops in Somalia under an AU (peacekeeping) and/or UN (anti-piracy) mandate. Though the Kenyan parliament voted in favour of this new approach, and the media were blindfolded with diplomatic fig-leaves - including "welcome with open hands - give us something" - statements by Somali Foreign Minister Abdiweli - the earlier decision by regional body IGAD that no direct neighbours of Somalia must get involved, was neglected already earlier by Ethiopia. Since now even neighbour Djibouti (formerly French Somaliland) was pushed to send troops to Mogadishu, Kenya will have little or no restraint. Fact is that now all three direct neighbours of Somalia, sponsored by their former colonial masters as well as overlord USA fare war inside Somalia. Most credible analysis predict that due to this ill-advised and presumably ill-intentioned military activities by the neighbouring countries the regional stability will decline for many years to come.
Two, possibly three Kenyan soldiers abducted
Five Kenyan soldiers came in contact with Somali raiders believed to be at least in part comprised of al-Shabaab elements in two separate incidents. One case happened on the Kenya-Somalia border in the north, where two soldiers on patrol were snatched and are still missing, and in the most recent case a Kenyan speedboat - chasing down the captors of a French tourist - capsized. Two of the initially three missing navy officers were recovered - one dead body was washed up at the coast and one died on the way to hospital. The third navy officer is still missing and - if alive - is suspected to be in the hands of an al-Shabaab group.
Two other Kenya Army soldiers, Evan Mutoro and Jonathan Kangogo, were captured allegedly by Al-Shabaab militia on July 24, and presumably are still in Somalia. The Kenyan government seems helpless in their attempts of getting them back alive after invading Somalia. The two soldiers were patrolling the border when they were kidnapped.
Several more Kenyan soldiers are missing since the invasion of Somalia by Kenyan troops, many have been killed, maimed or wounded - but even the local media, who have access to the families keep mum. Unless the Kenyan government would reveal the true facts, nobody can truly list figures on casualties or follow up on missing soldiers.
Paraplegic and diabetic French Lady abducted from Kenya possibly died - body still missing
Wheelchair-bound Madame Marie Dedieu, 66, was abducted from her modest home at Ras Kitau on Manda Island within the world famous archipelago of Lamu on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya in the early morning hours of Saturday, 01. October 2011 shortly after 03h00 in an attack by 10 heavily armed bandits, most of them believed to be of Somali ethnicity.
Six assailants stormed the house and fired a shot to scare away employees and her Kenyan partner, then dragged the helpless woman without her wheelchair and dumped her into the boat where four other bandits had been waiting. They then sped away in the powerful boat towards the Somali border, taking the disabled woman with them.
Aircraft and naval boats caught up with the kidnappers, but were helpless, because the abductors outmanoeuvred them in shallow coastal waters after a shoot-out, whereby allegedly some of the kidnappers were wounded.
Initially three members of Kenya's navy were missing after their boat capsized while chasing the suspected Somali gunmen, one was recovered and died on the way to hospital, one washed up on the beach and one is still missing.
Aircraft pursuing the kidnap boat into Somalia could again locate the boat and the hiding gang on Sunday, while the Kenya government stated it had sent mediators to Somalia. While circling overhead for hours and waiting for help, the private aircraft from Manda taking their turns could do little. Finally a military helicopter - reportedly Kenyan - arrived but reportedly only shot the clearly visible boat of the kidnappers to pieces - making the situation at least for the paraplegic hostage even worst.
Family and friends were immediately concerned about the health of the elderly woman, who needs to inject insulin every four hours and also requires regular further medication against her cancer to stay alive.
Somali elders had started to negotiate for an immediate release of the retired journalist, when word was spread that the lady had succumbed in the desperate situation and had died. The details, however, are not proven, her body has not been produced or recovered and there was still a faint hope that she might be alive. It is, however, now widely believed that Mme. Marie Dedieu died in the aftermath of an attack by a Kenyan helicopter, which detroyed the boat of the hostage takers near Bur Gavo and complicated the getaway of the gang with the paraplegic and medicine-dependent hostage tremendously - turning the flight into a deadly ordeal.
Deaf British Lady abducted from Kenya - held at pirate hideout in Central Somalia British citizen and holiday maker Judith Tebbutt, 56, was kidnapped from a coast resort north of Lamu in Kenya after an attack on the lodge and a failed robbery attempt in which her defending husband, David Tebbutt, 58, was killed during the ensuing struggle just before midnight on 10. September 2011 by a single shot to the chest from an assault gun. In the early morning hours of 11. September 2011 the woman, who is partially deaf, was then taken away in a fast motorboat and later brought across the border of Somalia. The radical Islamic group of Harakat al-Shabaab al Mujahidiin denied any involvement in what appears to be a sell-on from the mostly Kenyan first attackers to a Somali gang, which was holding hostages for ransom already earlier in Central Somalia. There she was then observed on 18. September 2011 near Amara in the hinterland of Harardheere in the South-East of Galmudug Regional State. Meanwhile sensationalist websites reporting on Somalia and real media have rowed back concerning the alleged al-Shabaab involvement they had wanted to establish by all means, and now also consider this to be a criminal rather than a terrorist case. Some persons involved in the earlier kidnap case of the sailing couple Chandler are reportedly also among the hostage takers holding Mrs. Tebbutt. Two presumed innocent Kenyan men, of whom at least one had become himself a hostage victim of the killer- and kidnap-gang and who were apparently arrested in order to show off Kenyan "efforts" to the international investigators and the media who had flocked into Kenya to focus on the case, are still in remand prison, while the judiciary in Lamu is dragging their feet to at least finalize the typing of the already widely criticized court proceedings, which sent them to the slammer, are still in remand prison, because their application to the High-Court for an immediately release on bond could not be processed so far because the court delayed their completion of the file. The important first window for a quick release of Mrs. Tebbutt had rapidly closed, because the British officials and others involved just repeated the same mistakes like in the case of the Chandlers and on the other hand the captors not only get more and more paranoid but also are staging impossible demands dreamed-up during Khat-chewing sessions.
Mr. Issa Sheikh Saadi, 37, a Kenyan of Somali ethnicity from Kiunga arrested in connection with this case, was released from remand on 09. November 2011, because the prosecution could not provide any evidence for his involvement. He had been accused of aiding the gang, but it is believed he also was just taken into custody in a show staged for foreign investigators, because the Kenyan security apparatus couldn't get hold of the real culprits, who had made their way to Somalia. Kenyan security officers, who were on patrol, saw an unidentified boat approaching the Kenyan territorial waters at around 6.30am on Friday morning - 30. 12. 2011, at Kiwayu area of Lamu. They gave chase but the suspects sped away, abandoned the boat and disappeared into the Mokokoni forest.
Next day on Saturday at around 9am the GSU (General Service Unit) officers from the 'L' company now based at Kiunga found the armed men and a fierce exchange ensued. In the process, three of the suspects were killed and three others escaped with gunshot injuries. 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. Al-Kataib Media presented this Message to the French People From the Imprisoned Security Adviser Denis Allex, dated 06-13-2010 11:10 AM, but the downloads have mostly (if not all) been removed in the meantime.
France had then received "proof of life" 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 and his latest proof of live was obtained in December 2011, while accusations of neglect against the French Government, which seems to have abandoned their man, grow louder.
Missing Briton Murray Watson and Kenyan Patrick Amukhuma went missing after an ambush on 01. April 2008. They were working on a U.N.-funded project in the Jubba 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 revealed 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. Observations from Salagle in the Jubba Valley revealed certain activities involving possibly a still alive Dr. Watson, which indicate that the case might no longer be a real hostage case. With the latest captures and releases now still at least 26 (plus 18) seized vessels (of presently 44 listed as not secured) and one barge with a total of not less than 418 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.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 blog on 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. For 2011 the recorded account closed at confirmed 209 incidences with 155 direct attacks and at least 49 sea-jackings with hostage taking, while at least 14 foreign seafarers died in these incidences this year around the Horn of Africa. For 2012 the records for Somalia stand at 6 incidences with 4 direct attacks. 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: YELLOW / NIO:YELLOW / W&SWIO: ORANGE (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). With the onset of the monsoon winds and rough seas piracy cases decline. 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. 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 the PIRACY 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 - email: office[AT]ecoterra.net (First reponders: You will be requested to verify your mail) East Africa ILLEGAL FISHING AND WASTE DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747-090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: marine[AT]ecop.info MEDIAL ASSISTANCE RADIO (MAR) network on 14,332.0 USB every day from 07h30 UTC to 08h00 UTC 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. KEEP US STRONG AND INDEPENDENT! Send your support-fund offers to ecotrust[AT]ecoterra[DOT]net. If it is your first contact please respond to the verification mail you will receive so that we get your mail and we'll send you then the details. Only with your help and the support of clean money from honest sponsors we can continue our independent research, unbiased information dissemination and awareness creation as well as to achieve the envisioned impact with hands-on projects directly up front and on the ground. These e-mails are sent to our many thousand recipients with different priorities. If you need them closer to the publication time and earlier than you actually receive them, please request a higher priority on the list-serve, which like the unsubscription requests should be sent to mailhub[at]ecoterra.net (at first contact you have to verify your mail). SUPPORT WANTED: With still many 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. © 2012, 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. 963
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