West Coast Connection Forum

Lifestyle => Train of Thought => Topic started by: Elano on April 10, 2009, 05:56:41 AM

Title: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Elano on April 10, 2009, 05:56:41 AM
Somali Pirates are "not afraid" of taking on Navy.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates holding an American on a drifting lifeboat vowed on Friday to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces and reportedly recaptured their hostage when he jumped overboard to escape.

Ship captain Richard Phillips leapt into the sea, but was quickly brought back, U.S. media said, citing defense sources.

"We are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone on behalf of the gang holding Phillips far off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.

"We will defend ourselves if attacked."

Despite their defiant talk, maritime groups tracking the saga -- the first time Somali pirates have captured an American -- say a more likely outcome is a negotiated solution, possibly involving safe passage in exchange for their captive.

The gang is also seeking a ransom, friends say.

Four pirates have been holding Phillips, a former Boston taxi driver, since Wednesday after a foiled bid to hijack the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama several hundred miles off Somalia.

The ship's lifeboat has run out of fuel.

Two boats full of heavily-armed fellow pirates have taken to sea in solidarity with the four on the lifeboat, but are too nervous to come near due to the presence of foreign naval ships including the USS Bainbridge destroyer which is up close.

"Other pirates want to come and help their friends, but that would be like sentencing themselves to death," said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program that monitors the region's seas.

"They will release the captain, I think, maybe today or tomorrow, but in exchange for something. Maybe some payment or compensation, and definitely free passage back home."

Phillips is one of about 270 hostages being held at the moment by Somali pirates, who have been plying the busy sea-lanes of the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for years.

They are keeping 18 captured vessels at or near lairs on the Somali coast -- five of them taken since the weekend alone.

Yet the fact Phillips is the first U.S. citizen seized, and the drama of his 20-man American crew stopping the Alabama being hijacked on Wednesday, has galvanized world attention.

It has also given President Barack Obama another foreign policy problem in a place most Americans would rather forget.

Perched on the Horn of Africa across from the Middle East, Somalia has suffered 18 years of civil conflict since warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Americans remember with a shudder the disastrous U.S.-U.N. intervention there soon after, including the infamous "Black Hawk Down" battle in 1993 when 18 U.S. troops were killed in a 17-hour firefight that later inspired a book and a movie.

U.S. SENDS MORE SHIPS

In another Somali-American saga, Captain Phillips apparently volunteered to get in the lifeboat with the pirates on Wednesday to act as a hostage for the sake of the Alabama's 20 American crew members, who somehow retook control of their ship.

The freighter, which is carrying food aid for Uganda and Somalia, is now on its way to its original destination, Mombasa port in Kenya. It is expected to arrive by Sunday night.

Friends of the pirates on the lifeboat said the situation was becoming desperate.

"The captain might be harmed and so might my friends," said a pirate on one of the two boats that left the Somali coast. "We see more warships coming to the scene. We cannot go further."

The USS Bainbridge has called on the FBI and other U.S. officials to help negotiate with the pirates.

U.S. military officials said more forces were on the way and that all options were on the table to save the captain.

Last year saw an unprecedented number of hijackings off Somalia -- 42 in total. That disrupted shipping, delayed food aid to east Africa, increased insurance costs, and persuaded some firms to send cargoes round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, a critical route for oil.

It also brought a massive international response, with ships from the United States, Europe, China, Japan and others flocking to the region to protect the sea-routes.

As the patrols mainly focused on the Gulf of Aden, the gateway to the Suez, the pirates began moving further afield and have been striking as far south as Indian Ocean waters near the Seychelles and Madagascar.

Analysts say the attack on the Alabama could lead to a new phase in international efforts to stop piracy.

"Piracy may be a centuries-old crime, but we are working to bring an appropriate, 21st-century response," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

With a vast area for the pirates to roam in, however, analysts say the only real solution is peace and stable government in Somalia itself.

Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Mr. O on April 10, 2009, 01:01:19 PM
Now I know why Navy branch is advertising for recruitment everday.
Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: K.Dub on April 10, 2009, 04:33:01 PM
Nuke them.
Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: herpes on April 10, 2009, 04:41:27 PM
These pirates kick ass
Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Elano on April 11, 2009, 05:20:12 AM
check this out:
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=213841.0
Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Elano on April 11, 2009, 10:42:18 AM
US ship arrives in Kenya minus kidnapped captain

MOMBASA, Kenya – An American ship whose captain is still being held hostage by Somali pirates has arrived in a Kenyan port with the 19 remaining crew members.

The Maersk Alabama arrived in Mombasa harbor on Saturday evening.

Capt. Richard Phillips is still being held in the lifeboat hundreds of miles from the nearest land. U.S. warships are nearby monitoring the situation.

The U.S.-flagged ship was attacked by Somali pirates firing automatic weapons on Wednesday but the unarmed crew managed to lock themselves in a secure room and overpower one of the pirates. The four pirates eventually left the ship in a lifeboat with the captain as a hostage.

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

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somali pirates hijacked an Italian-flagged tugboat with 16 crew Saturday, a NATO spokeswoman said, as U.S. warships closely watched a lifeboat where an American captain was being held hostage for a fourth day.

The tugboat was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast as it was pulling barges, said Shona Lowe, a spokeswoman at NATO's Northwood maritime command center.

The Foreign Ministry in Rome confirmed 10 of the 16 crew members are Italian. The crew members also include five Romanians and one Croatian, according to Micoperi, the Italian maritime services company that owns the ship.

"We received an e-mail from the ship saying 'We are being attacked by pirates,' and after that, nothing," Silvio Bartolotti, the owner of the company, told The Associated Press.

The attack on the Italian boat took place as the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was held on a lifeboat watched by two U.S. warships, hundreds of miles from land. The two hijackings did not take place near each other and it was unclear whether they were related.

The Alabama was heading toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa — its original destination — with 20 American crew members aboard. It was expected to arrive Saturday night, said Joseph Murphy, whose son is second-in-command of the vessel.

Port officials moved shipping containers Saturday afternoon to block reporters' and photographers' views of the ship when it docks.

A Nairobi-based diplomat, who receives regular briefings on the situation, said the four pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips some 380 miles off shore had tried to summon other pirates from the Somali mainland.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said that pirates had been trying to reach the lifeboat.

He said that at least two American ships and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft had been attempting to deter pirate ships and skiffs from contact with the lifeboat but he did not know if the pirates and Navy ships had come into contact.

A Somali who described himself as having close ties to pirate networks told The Associated Press that pirates had set out in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany. The diplomat told the AP that large pirate "motherships" and skiffs were heading in the direction of the lifeboat.

A second Somali man who said he had spoken by satellite phone to a pirate piloting a seized German freighter told the AP by phone Saturday that the pirate captain had reported being blocked by U.S. forces and was returning Saturday to the pirate stronghold of Harardhere.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, the Somali man said the pirate captain told him the ship was in sight of a U.S. Navy destroyer Saturday morning local time, received a U.S. warning not to come any closer and, fearing attack, left the scene without ever seeing the lifeboat.

A Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations said in Washington Saturday morning that there had been no developments overnight. He declined to comment on the report that the U.S. Navy had turned back the pirates.

However, two U.S. officials said Saturday that FBI agents are investigating the Somali pirates who are holding Phillips hostage, raising the possibility of federal charges against the men if they are captured. The officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

The Somali man said the pirate also told him that two other commandeered ships from Taiwan and Greece that were trying to reach the lifeboat feared a showdown with the U.S. Navy and returned to Eyl, a port that serves as a pirate hub, on Friday night. It was not immediately possible to contact people in Eyl Saturday.

The Somali man said the fourth ship that had tried to reach the lifeboat was a Norwegian tanker that was released Friday after a $2 million ransom was paid. The owner of the Norwegian tanker Bow Asir confirmed Friday that it had been released two weeks after it was seized by armed pirates off the Somali coast, and all 27 of its crew members were unhurt.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda. He told his crew of 20 to lock themselves in a cabin, crew members told stateside relatives.

Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men. The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with the captain to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.

On Friday, Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the sensitive, unfolding operations.

Negotiations had been taking place between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the officials said.

Sailors on the USS Bainbridge, which has rescue helicopters and lifeboats, were able to see Phillips but at several hundred yards away were too far to help him. The U.S. destroyer is keeping its distance, in part to stay out of the pirates' range of fire.

The lifeboat has some gas and the ability to move, according to U.S. defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive details.

U.S. sailors saw Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the lifeboat, and the Defense Department officials said they think he is unharmed.

The Bainbridge was joined Friday by the USS Halyburton, which has helicopters, and the huge, amphibious USS Boxer was expected soon after, the defense officials said. The Boxer, the flagship of a multination anti-piracy task force, resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

The vice president of the Philippines, the nation with the largest number of sailors held captive by Somali pirates, appealed for the safety of hostages to be ensured in the standoff.

"We hope that before launching any tactical action against the pirates, the welfare of every hostage is guaranteed and ensured," said Vice President Noli de Castro. "Moreover, any military action is best done in consultation with the United Nations to gain the support and cooperation of other countries."

On Friday, the French navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed.

France's defense minister promised an autopsy and investigation into the death of the hostage killed during the commando operation, which freed four other captives and was prompted by threats the passengers would be executed.

The pirates had seized the sailboat carrying Florent Lemacon, his wife, 3-year-old son and two friends off the Somali coast a week ago.

Two pirates were killed, and Lemacon died in an exchange of fire as he tried to duck down the hatch. Three pirates were taken prisoner in the operation, and are to be brought to France for criminal proceedings.

Piracy along the anarchic and impoverished Somali coast, the longest in Africa, has risen in recent years.

Somali pirates have been seizing ships with many hostages and anchoring it near shore, where they have quickly escaped to land and begun negotiations for multimillion-dollar ransoms.

They hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog group based in Malaysia. The bureau lists 66 attacks since January, not including the Alabama.

Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Elano on April 11, 2009, 10:44:44 AM
(http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090411/capt.7cc37a0ae92942539a9aaa4586fbf857.somalias_swashbucklers_ny114.jpg)
In this this file photo released by the Greek navy on April 1, 2009, a navy commando is seen detaining a speedboat with suspected Somali pirates tied up alongside a Greek frigate in the Gulf of Aden after a failed attack on a Norwegian cargo ship.
(http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090411/capt.b8895dba81584dacac93bc40060584f5.somalias_swashbucklers_ny112.jpg)
In this undated photo released by the French Defense Ministry on Saturday, April 11, 2009, armed pirates and their hostages are seen aboard the French yacht 'Tanit', off the coast of Somalia.
Title: Re: Ah Ah Ah I wanna see this....
Post by: Elano on April 13, 2009, 03:16:07 AM
"Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."

"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)," Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl.

Habeb said U.S. forces have "become our No. 1 enemy."

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