Somali vigilantes demand $35 million ransom for weapons ship

[Sir-Qalbi-Adeyg]

MOGADISHU, Somalia Sep 27 (Garowe Online) - A gang of pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian-flagged ship loaded with an assortment of weapons on Friday demanded a staggering US$35 million payment for its release.

 

A pirate spokesman, Januna Ali Jama, told the BBC Somali Service during a Saturday morning interview that the ship contains "weapons of all kinds."

 

"The Kenyan government should negotiate," Januna declared, saying that documents found aboard the Ukrainian-owned Faina indicated the ship was intended to dock at the Kenyan port of Mombassa.

 

 

He demanded a ransom payment in the amount of US$35 million, citing the weapons and other expensive property aboard the ship as being "very valuable" to its owners.

 

He stated that 20 people are on board the ship and a 14-year old boy is the youngest, while confirming media reports that Russian-made tanks were on board as well as an assortment of light weapons.

 

Januna, the pirate spokesman, would not clearly identify where the Faina was being taken, but he claimed the world will know by "tomorrow afternoon."

 

He warned the governments of France and the United States against any military action, saying: "We warn the French and the Americans…anything that happens is their responsibility."

 

The ship's crew "fought against us," Januna said, adding that the pirates eventually succeeded after using "tactical maneuvers" to overpower the Faina.

 

He justified the attack, saying: "I do not think we are in the wrong. Our country [somalia] is destroyed by foreigners…who dump toxic waste at our shores."

 

Piracy has grown along the Somali coast during 2008, making the strategic sea route linking the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean the world's most dangerous waters.

 

Source: Garowe Online

[ilax]

WAw, then there is a deal here.But, bad image, shame on you

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

What if these wapeons end up with the terrorist in Mogadisho , this is going to be fun

THE SHEIKHS WILLL PAY LOTS OF MONEY FOR THESE WAPEONS

[The Zack]

Xaaji_Xunduf, You call the Muslims in Mogadishu terrorists? Haddaasey sidii gaaladii u hadashaa.

[Koora-Tuunshe]

US says hijacked arms headed to Sudan, not Kenya

 

By BARBARA SURK

Monday, September 29, 2008

 

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. Navy spokesman says a weapons shipment on a Ukrainian ship hijacked by Somali pirates was headed to Sudan, not Kenya.

 

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, says the buyers in Sudan are unknown.

 

A 5th Fleet statement Monday says the ship was headed for the Kenyan port of Mombassa, but that "additional reports state the cargo was intended for Sudan."

 

Kenya has claimed it was the buyer for the shipment, which includes T-72 battle tanks.

 

The U.N. has imposed an arms embargo on weapons headed to Sudan's Darfur conflict zone. But the ban does not cover other weapons sales to the Khartoum government or the southern Sudan's autonomous government.

 

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

 

Source: AP, Sept 29, 2008

[dhulQarnayn]

^^^Who cares where the weapons are being shipped to...when do we get our money?

 

dhulQarnayn :cool:

Republic Of California

[Abtigiis]

Ciid wanaagsan to the pirates. What a way to mark the CIID. Waryaa DQ adiguu meeshan Cyper pirate haka ahaane, emulate the real men who are holding 30 T-77s.

[Abtigiis]

Has anyone saw the funny interview the Somali pirate had with Aljazeera.

 

He said, "given the infation and the drought dhulka ka jira 20 million is not much. And the international community can afford it."

[Liqaye]

Somalis are the most interesting specimens ever

 

The pirates celebrated eid atop the ship they hijacked.....

[nuune]

Breaking news:

 

Three shot dead in row between Somali piratesArgument between rival factions over what to do with Ukrainian ship's crew and cargo of tanks descends into deadly shootout

 

 

Three Somali pirates have been shot dead during an argument over what to do with a hijacked Ukrainian ship and its cargo of 33 tanks, a maritime group said today.

 

Rival factions among a group of roughly 50 pirates argued over whether to free the cargo and 20-man crew, said Andrew Mwangura, of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

 

In the most high-profile incident in a wave of hijackings off Somalia this year, the pirates seized the MV Faina six days ago and demanded $20m (£12m) in ransom.

 

US warships have surrounded the boat, whose capture sparked controversy over the destination of its cargo and threw a spotlight on the prolific piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping areas.

 

"The radicals on board do not want to listen to anyone," Mwangura, whose Kenya-based group is monitoring the saga via relatives of the crew and the pirates, told Reuters. "The moderates want to back-pedal. The Americans are close, so everyone is tense. There was a shootout and three of the pirates were shot dead."

 

 

Xan Rice on the ship's capture Link to this audio The US navy has said the ship, which was heading for Kenya's Mombasa port, was carrying T-72 tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition bound for south Sudan via Kenya.

 

Such a shipment could violate the terms of a north-south peace pact in Sudan unless specifically authorised by both sides in the truce. Kenya insists the armoury was for its military.

 

Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the US navy's fifth fleet, said: "We are not going to let [the pirates] offload the cargo."

 

Having set off from Ukraine, the Faina was destined for Mombasa when it was hijacked by gunmen in three speedboats. Its 21-man crew included 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and a Latvian. One of the Russians, who suffered from high blood pressure, is reported to have since died.

 

One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was an "open secret" that weaponry arriving in Kenya from Ukraine had been forwarded to the autonomous southern Sudan.

 

If the claim was proved true, it would be deeply embarrassing for the southern Sudanese government. Southern Sudan, which denies purchasing the tanks, emerged from a 20-year civil war against the northern-dominated Khartoum regime in 2005. Western donors pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into developing southern Sudan would be furious if the government there was found to be using its oil revenue to buy arms.

 

 

Read More

[dhulQarnayn]

Somali Pirates Tell All: They’re in It for the Money

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition said in an interview on Tuesday that they had no idea the ship was carrying arms when they seized it on the high seas.

 

“We just saw a big ship,” the pirates’ spokesman, Sugule Ali, said in a telephone interview. “So we stopped it.”

 

The pirates quickly learned, though, that their booty was an estimated $30 million worth of heavy weaponry, heading for Kenya or Sudan, depending on whom you ask.

 

In a 45-minute interview, Mr. Sugule spoke on everything from what the pirates wanted (“just money”) to why they were doing this (“to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters”) to what they had to eat on board (rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, “you know, normal human-being food”).

 

He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.” <----

 

The pirates who answered the phone call on Tuesday morning said they were speaking by satellite phone from the bridge of the Faina, the Ukrainian cargo ship that was hijacked about 200 miles off the coast of Somalia on Thursday. Several pirates talked but said that only Mr. Sugule was authorized to be quoted. Mr. Sugule acknowledged that they were now surrounded by American warships, but he did not sound afraid. “You only die once,” Mr. Sugule said.

 

He said that all was peaceful on the ship, despite unconfirmed reports from maritime organizations in Kenya that three pirates were killed in a shootout among themselves on Sunday or Monday night.

 

He insisted that the pirates were not interested in the weapons and had no plans to sell them to Islamist insurgents battling Somalia’s weak transitional government. “Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons,” he said. “We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.”

 

He said the pirates were asking for $20 million in cash; “we don’t use any other system than cash.” But he added that they were willing to bargain. “That’s deal-making,” he explained.

 

Piracy in Somalia is a highly organized, lucrative, ransom-driven business. Just this year, pirates hijacked more than 25 ships, and in many cases, they were paid million-dollar ransoms to release them. The juicy payoffs have attracted gunmen from across Somalia, and the pirates are thought to number in the thousands.

 

The piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago, Somali officials said, as a response to illegal fishing. Somalia’s central government imploded in 1991, casting the country into chaos. With no patrols along the shoreline, Somalia’s tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax.

 

“From there, they got greedy,” said Mohamed Osman Aden, a Somali diplomat in Kenya. “They starting attacking everyone.”

 

By the early 2000s, many of the fishermen had traded in their nets for machine guns and were hijacking any vessel they could catch: sailboat, oil tanker, United Nations-chartered food ship.

 

“It’s true that the pirates started to defend the fishing business,” Mr. Mohamed said. “And illegal fishing is a real problem for us. But this does not justify these boys to now act like guardians. They are criminals. The world must help us crack down on them.”

 

The United States and several European countries, in particular France, have been talking about ways to patrol the waters together. The United Nations is even considering something like a maritime peacekeeping force. Because of all the hijackings, the waters off Somalia’s coast are considered the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world.

 

On Tuesday, several American warships — around five, according to one Western diplomat — had the hijacked freighter cornered along the craggy Somali coastline. The American ships allowed the pirates to bring food and water on board, but not to take weapons off. A Russian frigate is also on its way to the area.

 

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Navy spokesman, said on Tuesday that he had heard the unconfirmed reports about the pirate-on-pirate shootout, but that the Navy had no more information. “To be honest, we’re not seeing a whole lot of activity” on the ship, he said.

 

In Washington, Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to discuss any possible American military operations to capture the ship.

 

“Our concern is right now making sure that there’s a peaceful resolution to this, that this cargo does not end up in the hands of anyone who would use it in a way that would be destabilizing to the region,” Mr. Morrell told reporters at the Pentagon. He said the United States government was not involved in any negotiations with the pirates. He also said he had no information about reports that the pirates had exchanged gunfire among themselves.

 

Kenyan officials continued to maintain that the weapons aboard were part of a legitimate arms deal for the Kenyan military, even though several Western diplomats, Somali officials and the pirates themselves said the arms were part of a secret deal to funnel weapons to southern Sudan.

 

Somali officials are urging the Western navies to storm the ship and arrest the pirates because they say that paying ransoms only fuels the problem. Western diplomats, however, have said that such a commando operation would be very difficult because the ship is full of explosives and the pirates could use the 20 crew members as human shields.

 

Mr. Sugule said his men were treating the crew members well. (The pirates would not let the crew members speak on the phone, saying it was against their rules.) “Killing is not in our plans,” he said. “We only want money so we can protect ourselves from hunger.”

 

When asked why the pirates needed $20 million to protect themselves from hunger, Mr. Sugule laughed and said, “Because we have a lot of men.” The New York Times

 

-----------------------------------------

 

dhulQarnayn :cool:

Republic Of California

[Koora-Tuunshe]

This interesting article notes on the continued intervention of Kenya in the fragile peace agreement in Sudan btw former rebels and the government. Mombasa has always been a conduit for illegal imports of arms and ammunition

headed to southern Sudan.

 

 

Cargo prompts doubts on hijacked ship's destination

 

The Ukrainian vessel's cargo was headed for Kenya, according to that country and Ukraine. But U.S. officials and others suspect southern Sudan's fledgling army was to receive the tanks.

 

By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 30, 2008

 

NAIROBI, KENYA -- This time it's the booty, not the pirates, that everyone's talking about.

 

And what they're wondering is: Just where were those Russian tanks going?

 

As additional U.S. warships gathered around a hijacked Ukrainian ship off Somalia, questions persisted Monday about where the vessel's military cargo was destined.

 

The governments of Kenya and Ukraine say the shipment of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks, ammunition and spare parts was part of a legal sale contracted last year to supply the Kenyan army.

 

But U.S. officials, arms experts and maritime officials say the more likely destination was southern Sudan, where the former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement, or SPLM, governs an autonomous region and has been working aggressively over the last three years to transform its ragtag guerrilla army into a professional fighting force.

 

 

"We received reports that the cargo was intended for Sudan, so obviously our goal is to maintain watch over the ship while negotiations are taking place," said Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

 

He said "several" U.S. ships had surrounded the hijacked vessel Monday, but no further actions were planned.

 

Arms experts wondered why Kenya would purchase Russian-made tanks since its previous suppliers have been the United States, Britain and China. Kenya's current tanks are British-built.

 

"I'm not aware of Kenya using any [former] Soviet bloc weaponry before, so if they are, that's a major shift," said one arms expert in the region who did not want to be identified.

 

Southern Sudan, by contrast, has been buying Russian-made tanks over the last year, officials said, including nearly 50 T-54 battle tanks. That deal drew attention in February when one shipment was briefly held up at the Kenyan port of Mombasa amid that country's postelection turmoil.

 

Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers Assistance Program in Kenya, said at least three arms shipments destined for southern Sudan had moved through Mombasa over the last year.

 

The Kenyan government, however, said Monday that the hijacked cargo was "important military equipment paid for by the Kenyan taxpayer for use by the Kenyan military."

 

A government spokesman declined to comment on why the government was purchasing Russian-made tanks or how they fit into the country's military strategy.

 

"We don't discuss why we need arms," spokesman Alfred Mutua said. He described allegations that the tanks might be sold or transferred to Sudan as "propaganda."

 

"We have not had any tanks go from Kenya to Sudan. Kenya makes sure it's not a conduit for any illegal arms," he said.

 

Southern Sudanese officials could not be reached for comment Monday. One army official in the region was quoted over the weekend in a Sudanese newspaper as denying that the military goods were headed for the south.

 

But since signing a 2005 treaty with the Sudanese government that ended a 21-year north-south civil war, the SPLM has not hidden its desire to strengthen its former guerrilla army. It spends about half its budget on military training, salaries and supplies.

 

In addition to purchases and assistance from countries such as the U.S., Russia and Ethiopia, the new autonomous southern Sudanese government recently announced it might build its own air force.

 

Under the terms of the peace treaty, southern Sudan is permitted to operate and fund its own military, separate from the national army. The agreement does not prohibit southern Sudan from purchasing foreign weapons, nor is the region restricted by the United Nations arms embargo, which covers the Darfur region in western Sudan.

 

Recent skirmishes between Sudan's northern and southern armies in the disputed oil-rich city of Abyei underscored the sense of urgency felt in the south to build up its forces in case the treaty collapses or combat resumes.

 

The northern army also receives heavy weapons from Russia and China and has its own manufacturing facilities for tanks.

 

The SPLM also wants a strong army to help enforce the results of a referendum planned for 2011, in which southern Sudanese might vote to separate from the north, analysts said.

 

Hijackers said Monday they were seeking $20 million for the release of the cargo and 20 hostages, according to Sugale Ali Omar Omar, who identified himself as one of the pirates and spoke in a phone interview. He said U.S. ships were about a mile away and warplanes were flying low over the ship.

 

One crew member has died of a suspected heart attack, but all others are safe, he said.

 

"We are ready if the foreign warships attack us," he said. "If they fire on us, we will open what we have on them."

 

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

 

Special correspondent Lutfi Sheriff Mohammed in Mogadishu, Somalia, contributed to this report.

[Koora-Tuunshe]

LIsten to Andrew Mwangura, president of the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program as he speaks on all other illicit activities on Somalia's coast:the unreported Pirate Fishing undertaken by fishing industries, Toxic Disposal. He calls for a comprehensive prescription for Somalia's instability.

 

From the CBC radio show program, 'As It Happens' on SEP. 30, 2008. His interview starts at 22:15---

 

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20080929-aih-1.wmv

 

 

From the islands of the South Pacific , to the coastal communities of West Africa, the pirate fishermen, who then claim their profits in European and Asian ports, are netting millions of dollars in much needed income which rightfully belongs to coastal communities. The United Nations estimates that Somalia loses US$300 million a year Tuna stocks around Tanzania, Somalia, Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu are targeted each year with giant nets that scoop up entire shoals, including the young fish vital for breeding and future stock growth. Those that won’t make money on the market, but could still provide food and income for others, are thrown back dead.

"Source: Greenpeace.org

 

 

"Because there is no (effective) government,(in Somalia) there is so much irregular fishing from European and Asian countries," Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, UN Special Envoy