Juje Posted November 20, 2008 Somali pirates pocket at least $1.67 million 2 tankers released after payments to hijackers; U.N. backs arms sanctions. NBC News and news services updated 12:50 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2008 MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali pirates released two hijacked ships after ransoms were paid, U.S. military officials said Thursday. The deals emerged as Britain warned that paying for the release of hostages risks encouraging more piracy. NBC News reported that the Great Creation, a Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker seized on Sept. 18, was released after a $1.67 million ransom was paid. The Genius, another Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker which was hijacked Sept. 26, was also returned in exchange for an unknown sum. Earlier this week, pirates released the Stolt Valor, a Japanese chemical tanker after paying hijackers $2.5 million. Gunmen from the chaotic Horn of Africa country grabbed world headlines with Saturday's spectacular capture of a huge Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of oil, the biggest ship hijacking in history. Since seizing the Sirius Star oil tanker, pirates have hijacked at least three other ships, maritime officials say. The supertanker's owners are in ransom talks with the pirates who are reportedly demanding $25 million for its release. The Saudi Arabian tanker was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya — far beyond the gangs' usual area of operations. It was believed to be anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that is now a well-defended pirate base. The audacity of the attack underlined the extent of a crime wave that experts say has been fueled by the Iraq-style Islamist insurgency onshore, dimming hopes for U.N.-led peace talks, and the lure of multi-million-dollar ransoms. Somali gunmen are believed to be holding more than 200 hostages and about a dozen ships in the Eyl area, including a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33 tanks and other heavy weapons. An associate of the gang holding that ship, the MV Faina, said they rejected a $2.5 million ransom offer this week. "The pirates and a broker met in the forest between Galkayo and Haradheere ... but the pirates stood by their demand for $8 million," the associate, Hussein Hassan, told Reuters. Sanctions on the way Meanwhile, The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed Thursday to impose new sanctions aimed at reducing the arms flowing into Somalia and the lawlessness and piracy that have flourished there. The 15-nation council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, endorsed a British plan for a council panel to recommend people and entities whose financial assets would be frozen. "It provides a framework for implementing sanctions against individuals in Somalia. And now it's up to the sanctions committee to come up with a list of individuals and entities who will be subject to those sanctions," British Ambassador John Sawers emphasized. Council members say the added sanctions, which exclude money intended for basic expenses like food and medicine, are intended to strengthen Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government. Haile Menkerios, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for political affairs, told the council that just last month more than 37,000 people were displaced from Mogadishu, the nation's capital and largest city, due to insecurity and sporadic attacks. Humanitarian and food aid is increasingly difficult to deliver for 1 million Somalis, he said, and hard-line groups are expanding their military operations in south-central Somalia.The African Union's top diplomat said Thursday that the United Nations should send peacekeepers to Somalia amid the growth in piracy. Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, said the increasing piracy was being aggravated by the country's feuding politicians and "a clear indication of the further deterioration of the situation with far-reaching consequences for this country, the region and ... international community." Scores of attacks in Somali waters this year have driven up insurance costs for shipping firms, and even made some companies divert cargo around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Danish shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S has ordered some of its vessels to avoid the Gulf of Aden as a result of the spate of hijackings. Ships "without adequate speed," mainly tankers, will sail the long route around Africa unless they can join convoys with naval escorts in the gulf, group executive Soeren Skou said. The Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of miles and many days shorter than going around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Forces from NATO, the European Union and elsewhere are trying to protect vessels on one of the world's busiest shipping routes, linking Europe to Asia. Some nations seek a more robust response and say the hijackings will continue without political reconciliation onshore, where an Islamist insurgency rages. Moscow has suggested international forces should help it attack the pirates' land bases. A Russian news agency said on Thursday that more Russian warships would go to the region. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was vital the international community stand firm against the "scourge" of hostage-taking. He said Britain won't pay a ransom for two Britons being held by pirates off the east African coast. "Payments for hostage-taking are only an encouragement to further hostage taking," he said. Source Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted November 20, 2008 wait untill these pirates go back to thier villages and throw a party. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedSea Posted November 20, 2008 lool.. They are demanding $25 Mil. For the Saudi Tanker too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
