The MV FAINA Piracy Crisis Chronicle – VIII
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
December 08, 2008
65th Update 2008-11-28 16:21:18 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
Day 65 -1538 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now two months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.
After the release of MV CENTAURI, the MV FAINA remains surrounded by mainly U.S. naval vessels in the same area together only with MV CAPTAIN STEFANOS nearby.
The limbo in Ukrainian internal and external politics hits right through to the FAINA crisis. Indecisiveness and quarrels about petty-bargains characterize the day of the negotiator. Independent observers are of the opinion that the case could have been solved since long, since the captors are willing to agree. But every step from the pirates to come to a conclusion is misinterpreted by the Ukrainians and their middlemen as weakness which should be further exploited. Such reluctance and negligence to close the case can still lead to a dreadful outcome, especially since the fundamentalist forces on the land have vowed to attack the Faina. If this is what the Ukrainians, Kenyans and Russians are hoping or paying for - it will be a disastrous end. The U.S. navy has taken on the role to guard the weapons ship - they also must now guard against third-party attacks until the peaceful solution has come true.
Despite intense lobbying, Ukraine looks certain not to be offered a fast track towards NATO membership when alliance foreign ministers will meet on Tuesday next week to discuss membership hopes, diplomats said. "There does not need at this point in time to be any discussion of a membership action plan (MAP). Ukraine is not ready for membership. That is very clear", US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday. The Ukrainian government has lobbied intensively for a MAP, with the US their most vocal supporter. But given the collapse of the Ukrainian government, the member states which were most opposed to giving Ukraine a MAP in April - Germany, France and Italy - argue that it would be the wrong time to make them an offer now. There is "no reason" for the alliance to go further than the April agreement at this stage, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the German parliament on Wednesday. Ministers now look set to focus on the question of how much power NATO should give to the cooperation commissions it has set up for judging the readiness for of countries for new membership. "We believe that the NATO-Ukraine Commission can be the body with which we intensify our dialogue and our activities with Ukraine", Rice said. The same applies also to Georgia and NATO ministers are set to discuss relations with Russia, after they agreed to suspend all high-level meetings with the Russian government following the Georgian war. The Russian government is currently lobbying for the creation of a new "security architecture" in Europe which would sideline NATO, a force Moscow sees as an outmoded "product of the Cold War", but such creation would require NATO's unanimous approval, something member states seem unlikely to give at present. The ministers are also expected to discuss operations against pirates in Somalia and in Afghanistan, after the alliance's top commander on Monday called for a 40-per-cent boost in troop numbers in the fight against the Taliban.
Ecoterra Intl. renewed it's call to solve the FAINA and the SIRIUS STAR cases with first priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen to try an attempt of a military solution must be held responsible for the surely resulting disaster.
News from other abducted ships ---
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed today that a Greek-owned freighter MV CENTAURI with a 26-man all Filipino crew has been freed by Somalian pirates from a location near MV FAINA. DFA spokesman Esteban Conejos Jr. acknowledged that the bulker, who was officially reported as seized by 5 pirates on September 17, but actually had disappeared from the screens already in 16th, has been released with its all Filipino crew Thursday night. Greek authorities, later, confirmed that all 25 crew members are unharmed. Conejos said he received the information from the shipping principals of the freighter, Navigation Maritime, Greece. He said the Filipino crewmen were all in good condition and the ship was on its way to Mombassa, Kenya to unload its cargo consisting of 17,000 to salt. The foreign affairs official said the DFA is already coordinating with the ship's owner for the repatriation of the Filipino seamen. The only mystery remaining is the fact that the ships owners continue to claim that it was sailing "from Ethiopia to a Kenyan port", whereby it must be noted that Ethiopia has no port and hopefully a serious inspection of the cargo will take place, when it arrives in Mombasa after a maximum of 4-5 days for this trip.
Somali pirates hijacked today at 7.48am EAT (0447 hrs UTC) a Liberia-flagged, 1986 built chemical/oil Products tanker with a gross tonnage of 16,282 on Friday in the Gulf of Aden, which had 25 Indians, 2 sailors from Bangladesh and 3 Britons on board. The vessel is managed by ISHIMA PTE LTD, Singapore, sports as registered owner a company called WINGED FOOT SHIPPING LTD from the Marshall Islands and is insured by Assuranceforeningen Gard - Norway while it is said to not be covered by an ITF but an IBF agreement. The MT BISCAGLIA was attacked early Friday morning by five pirates, said Jean-Marc Le Quilliec, commander of the French frigate NivoseNivose, escorting a Panamanian-flagged Norwegian bulk carrier. "The Liberian-flagged tanker Biscaglia was successfully attacked today in the Gulf of Aden", Commander Jane Campbell of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet later confirmed. Three men escaped the attack by jumping overboard and were rescued, a French navy source said.
The three crew members were fished out by a German navy helicopter and were dropped off on another French ship nearby, he told an AFP reporter on board the French naval vessel Nivose. A spokesman for the German Ministry of Defence confirmed that a helicopter from the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern lifted three men from the sea after responding to an emergency call. Diplomats said the German warship had been on patrol nearby when it picked up the distress signal and sent the helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived too late and after the pirates had already taken control of the tanker. The pirates had already successfully boarded the Biscaglia by the time the helicopter arrived, the German Ministry of Defence confirmed. It has in the meantime become clear that the three British nationals were security personnel, who jumped off the ship while the pirates boarded - which makes this case of criminal piracy actually the sad joke of the day. While the Indian captain and his crew stood strong, their "security" abandoned ship. The incident seems to confirm the opinion of major organizations in the shipping industry, which advise against the use of "guards" on commercial merchant vessels. The three unarmed guards, employed by Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), based in Poole, Dorset/UK, were forced to flee the ship as the pirates fired on them, according to the company. The company was specifically set up in July this year to provide so-called non-lethal security services for shipowners, according to its website, claiming all its staff are former royal marines. This latest incident is likely to fuel the fear of many in the shipping industry that guards´ presence might only increase the violence of an attack by Somalis, who are known to usually not harm the crew. The two Britons on MT Sirius have not been harmed by the pirates. The Gulf of Aden has become the global kindergarten for playing navies, Somali pirate youngsters as well as the money-jugglers and reflects pretty well the state of mental disorder this world is in.
With the latest captures and releases still at least 17 foreign vessels with a total of around 361 crew members (of which 108 are Filipinos) are held and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which are observed off the coast of Somalia, have been reported or reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 110 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded to far for 2008 with until today 51 factual sea-jacking cases (incl. the presently held 17). NATO only lists now 15 cases (still including the sunk FV ETWANANAVA 5), which makes the ignorance to abductions of vessels from non-NATO or non-western or from the least developed countries obvious.
News from legally arrested, illegally fishing vessels in the region
A Chinese fishing vessel FV WUNAN was arrested and prosecuted by authorities of Madagascar for illegal fishing. The vessel is held by the authorities until the fine is paid. But because the company so far failed to pay, the boat's Chinese captain and mainly Chinese crew are now stuck on Madagascar since 4 months. The prosecuting court made the crew subject to repatriation and, like the other Chinese crew members, four Filipino seafarers among the crew are free, but stranded, since their manager has not provided them with the fare to return home. Though one of the Pinoy crew suffers from Malaria, owner/manager Simon Lee of Singapore doesn't care. Efforts have been made to push the local Chinese shipping manager of the vessel in Antanarivo to solve the humanitarian crisis, but because he is not responding, the case has now also been brought to the attention of the local office of OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) and the officials there have promised to follow up on the case and take the necessary action. Illegally fishing Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean are a constant threat and their crews are kept like slaves.
Other related news ------
The Spanish diplomatic authorities think that the Spanish photographer kidnapped on Wednesday in Somalia, José Cendón, is being held in some mountainous area not too far from Bossasso. José Cendón was taken with a British journalist, Colin Freeman from the Daily Telegraph, on Wednesday. They were kidnapped, it´s thought by their own translators and/or by their eight bodyguards. Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, said that the first contacts had now been made between the Spanish Government and the regional administration in Somalia, which in turn said it had sent two teams - one to the elders and one after the hijackers. There has still be no contact between the kidnappers and the Spanish Embassy in Kenya, on which Somalia depends. José Cendon´s sister Julia, said her brother had been trying to obtain an interview with the Somali pirates and if they let him, even if he is still held captive, he would still do that.
It has only transpired now that one of the nine ships operated by Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) came under attack allegedly by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Ambachew Abreha, Managing Director of ESL, stated that the attack occurred on Monday, November 17, 2008, but the ship managed to safely cruise away from the hijackers. MV ANDINET, built by Fincantieri-Cantieri Navali Italiani in Venice, has reverted back to its initial point of departure, the Port of Djibouti, after the hijacking attempt. Ambachew said that the attempt was diverted by the ship´s security despite claims by the German navy that stated it rescued Andinet from pirates. German navy officials said Tuesday its frigate, Karlsruhe, had foiled attacks by heavily armed bandits on two ships. On Monday, Andinet radioed for help, saying it was under attack from two small motorboats in the Gulf of Aden. The Karlsruhe, which was 20km away, dispatched a Sea Lynx helicopter and the two motorboats "left at high speed", a navy statement said. The managing director on his part said the German navy was near the incident but has not intercepted the hijackers, adding that it is confidential how the ship managed to foil the attack.
It is obvious that the Gulf of Aden has become the playing ground for foreign navies and military ops, who operate there under a weak United Nations request but mostly by themselves, without real co-ordination and most importantly without oversight. So far only the French commando raid on the sea-jacked sailing vessel Carre d'As has gone without obvious human rights violations, though the case is legally not closed yet. But especially the sinking of Thai vessel EKAWATNAVA 5 by the Indian navy, killing most of the crew, as well as the botched attack by British commandos on a Yemeni Dhow with later rendition of the arrested pirates to Kenya, show clearly that there is only a short step from protecting innocent seafarers to committing military atrocities.
Russia's Neustrashimy (Fearless) missile frigate will continue protecting commercial vessels from pirate attacks off the Somali coast for another month, a senior officer on board the ship said on Friday. In October, Russia dispatched the Neustrashimy from its Northern Fleet to Somalia's coast to protect shipping in the country's waters, where pirates frequently capture ships for ransom. "We are planning to remain in the Gulf of Aden for another month, and our future deployment will depend on the decision adopted by the Navy command", Capt. 1st Rank Oleg Gurinov said. "The use of artillery and missiles would be inappropriate. Small arms are sufficient", Gurinov said. However, the officer said that the Neustrashimy, like any other foreign warship patrolling Somali waters, has no right to attack unidentified vessels it suspects of piracy. "We may use weaponry against the pirates only when we are certain that a commercial vessel or our ship is under attack, because we must attempt to avoid the loss of human life", he said.
The head of the Suez Canal yesterday urged navies patrolling the pirate-ridden waters off the east coast of Africa to improve their co-ordination and consider measures such as forming convoys and providing escorts to prevent further attacks on vulnerable ships. Ahmed Aly Fadel, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, also warned that Arab navies had to take action to prevent the piracy spilling over into the Red Sea, which is home to the key Saudi ports of Jeddah and Jizan. "We can say that the international steps taken to safeguard the international route in the Gulf of Aden are not enough", Mr Fadel said. "If they do not co-operate they will lose a lot, they will do something but not with the good result".
Ethiopia said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from Somalia by the end of this year, piling pressure on Somalia's feuding government and African nations that had promised to send peace keepers. Addis Ababa has sent thousands of soldiers to support Somalia's Western-backed interim administration, whose divisions have hindered its battle against Islamist militants waging an Iraq-style insurgency. President Abdullahi Yusuf's government wants a fully-fledged United Nations peacekeeping force to replace a small African Union (AU) mission that has been unable to stem the violence. "The Ethiopians are at the end of their tether because of the squabbling in the interim government, which they have backed at such enormous human and financial cost", Rashid Abdi, Somalia expert at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters. He said Ethiopia also was angry at the West, which gave it tacit approval to deploy there, but then let it shoulder the burden of trying to stabilize Somalia, while also criticizing human rights abuses by its soldiers there. "I think they'll decide to pull out their forces, seal the border, then make the kind of incursions they made in the past to ensure the (Islamist rebels) do not become a serious threat". A spokesman for Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry told Reuters that Addis Ababa had informed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Jean Ping, chairman of the AU Commission, by letter on Tuesday of its decision to withdraw its military forces. Fighting in Somalia has killed 10,000 civilians since the Ethiopian deployment, has driven more than a million from their homes and left more than 3 million Somalis in need of emergency food aid.
The chief of India's Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Sunil Damle stated onboard INS Tir after the Mumbai terror attacks that the India Navy is well aware of the danger posed to it in Somali waters. "It is a fact that our action against Somalian pirate vessel in the recent past has brought the Indian Navy into focus in this particular area but this also has brought in a danger of the Indian Navy being targeted by these people in addition to the terrorist posing threat to our nation", he said. He added that no possibility can be ruled out, as the Somali pirates have enough money on their disposal, and even if the pirates are not directly involved they could fund such organizations doing terrorist activities. "Even if the Somali pirates are not going to take any direct action against us there is every possibility of them pumping in the money into such organization taking terrorist like action against us", Vice Admiral Damle said.
The only link between Somalia and the horrible attacks in Mumbai / India, where the death toll includes Britons and Americans which allegedly were singled out by the terrorists, is the use of counter-terrorism MARCOS troops in the counterattacks. The Marcos (abbreviation of marine commandos), dubbed as the "bearded force" by the militants and having a knack of executing covert operations, were called in along with National Security Guards and army commandos as armed militants holed up inside two luxury hotels and other centres in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai. At first glance, they can be mistaken for militants. Sporting long beards and even toting AK-47 assault rifles - Indian Navy´s marine commandos follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: "Fight a militant like a militant" . This is surely what they did with the sea-jacked Thai fishing vessel FV EKAWATNAVA 5. "Trained sky divers and sea divers, the Marcos could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. They can operate in beach, coastal, jungles and ravines areas. Being divers, they could reach hostile shores swimming underwater," a senior navy official explained on condition of anonymity.
Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of the naval divers to lead amphibious operations. The personnel volunteering for the force have to undergo a rigorous two-years training, by the end of which only 10-25 percent of the enrolled commandos remain. In another twist the BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera said British officials were investigating reports that Britons (i.e. British passport holder most likely of Pakistani origin) were involved in carrying out the attacks in Mumbai, which have left at least 130 dead and hundreds more injured. The claim was made on an Indian television station. One of the suspects reportedly called an Indian television station, speaking the main Pakistani language Urdu, to demand the return of Muslim lands. That was a reference to Kashmir, territory claimed by both India and Pakistan. British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said UK authorities had "no knowledge" of any British links with the killings. Indian Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen arrested by Indian authorities. British security officials said none of the attackers´ nationalities had been confirmed but authorities in India were checking the men´s identity documents.
South Korea has delayed a costly plan to send naval ships to pirate-infested Somali waters, officials said yesterday. The South Korean government had initially planned to seek parliamentary approval before the year´s end for the action, which calls for the dispatch of a stealth destroyer and Navy forces to patrol the dangerous coastal waters off the African country. During a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, President Lee Myung-bak requested "more prudence" before submitting the bill to the National Assembly, citing the financial burden of 45 billion won ($31 million) necessary to carry out the plan. Ruling party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, a member of the parliamentary defense committee said: "The minister did not say when the plan will be pushed again". "But it won´t be before the February Assembly session".
66th Update 2008-11-29 15:02:43 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
Day 66 - 1561 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now two months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.
Supplies have been brought to the MV FAINA and the crew is all right, sources close to the case stated. But still too much interference from countries interested in the weapons on the ship seem to cause havoc in straight-release negotiations, who want to free the ship and crew.
Ecoterra Intl. renewed it's call to solve the FAINA and the SIRIUS STAR cases with first priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen to try an attempt of a military solution must be held responsible for the surely resulting disaster.
News from other abducted ships -------
Sheikh Abdul Raheem Isa Ado, the spokesman for the Islamic Courts´ forces in Somalia has stated that the Courts have issued warnings to the pirates responsible for the hijacking of the Saudi Sirius Star oil tanker on November 17 at the port city of Harardheere. The Courts demanded that the pirates end the operation, release the oil tanker and ensure that the crew is returned to safety.
In this exclusive interview, Abdul Raheem spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat media by phone from the Somali capital, Mogadishu:
Q: Do you have any new information about the hijacked oil tanker?
A: No, I do not have any information.
Q: Are there any plans for military intervention to secure the release of the tanker?
A: There are ongoing attempts; we have already warned them [the hijackers]. After that, we will cut off supplies that reach them from the mainland and we will do everything in our capacity to have the boat released.
Q: Are your forces in the city [of Harardheere]?
A: Yes, the city is in under our control, we´re there and our forces are there. Moreover, its surrounding villages are under the control of the [Islamic] Courts.
Q: So could you confirm that there will be military intervention taken against the pirates?
A: There have been attempts; firstly, we have issued warnings to them to release their hostages without any conditions. Secondly, we are stopping their supplies on land and after that we will spare no effort and do everything in our capacity [to ensure the tanker´s release] but I cannot say that intervention will take place at a certain time or on a specific day. However, we will try our best, God willing, to set the boat free because it belongs to an Arab and Islamic country. It is not enough to sit by and watch and not to intervene.
Q: But pirates have hijacked Egyptian and Yemeni ships before, why didn´t you intervene then?
A: We have always been thinking about putting an end to piracy against ships belonging to non-Muslims. We are against piracy and the horrific acts that pirates carry out but this ship [the Sirius Star] was close to the city that we are in; this is the first reason. We do not approve of piracy against Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Our forces are present in the city [of Haradheere] and there is security, as well as the [Islamic] Courts and that is why we announced our position before.
Q: Some consider your statement as a way of courting Saudi Arabia. What is your response to this?
A: No, Saudi Arabia is our sister, there is no courting. Egypt, Yemen and all Arab and Islamic countries are our sisters and it is the same for the rest of world. We do not condone the hijacking of ships and we have always thought about how we can try to intervene in cases of piracy but from now on we will intervene. Let me tell you that there are ships that enter Somali seas illegally and there are ships that come in and dump waste and there are pirates who are not Somalis.
Q: What is the number of your forces in the city?
A: I cannot state the size of our forces to the media but there are enough for us to work and intervene, but this will take place at the right time and place and this will be decisive.
Q: The Shabaab movement denied that it is going to confront pirates; are the disputes between you?
A: The movement is our sister and there are no problems between us.
Q: Has there been any personal communication between yourselves and the pirates?
A: Yes, our brothers in Haradheere have spoken to them and warned them and there is an office that contacts them.
Q: Thank you, is there anything you would like to add?
A: We are fighting our Ethiopian enemy that occupies our land and we say to all Arab and Islamic countries and their nations that they should know that we are defending our land, our religion and our nation and they must help our afflicted people.
Tomorrow, Nov 30, the deadline the pirates have given for the ransom to be paid for the MT SIRIUS STAR will run out. Already on 26th a pirate spokesman stated that talks via intermediaries were taking too long. A Mohamed Said, who appealed for a fresh channel of communication to be opened directly to the vessel´s owners then told the French news agency AFP by satellite phone apparently from the deck of the captured Sirius Star: "We are urging the owners of the Saudi tanker to have an honest dialogue in order to end the crisis." The captors are demanding 25 million dollars for the Saudi supertanker and said Saturday they were hoping for a "favourable" reply as the expiry for the ransom loomed. "Though the ultimatum for the payment of the 25 million dollars is about to expire, we are still expecting to get a favourable reply," Mohammed Said, the leader of the group holding the Sirius Star, told AFP. "We are securing the tanker as well as Harardhere area. We don't want anything bad to happen," he said. Harardhere is the coastal village in northern Somalia off which the ship is being held. Negotations continue but we don't know when they will be finalised." In a recent interview, the chairman of Lloyd's insurance said it was "highly likely" the owners of the Sirius Star would pay up. Lord Peter Levene told Channel Four News television: "At the end of the day there is no alternative, if you don't want lives to be lost." The crew of 25, including Britons Peter French and Scot James Grady, are said to be fine.
Informed sources expect that the Yemeni cargo ship captured by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on November 18 carrying quantities of steel, asphalt and heavy equipments used for road building, to be released soon, the Yemen state-run www.26sep.net has reported. The ship was seized in Yemeni territorial waters shortly after leaving the Hadramout seaport. Eight of the pirates who hijacked the ship en route to the island of Socotra left the board of the ship and there are still three pirates who will leave it over the next few hours, the sources were quoted as saying. The move comes as some troops from the Somali Puntland region surrounded the area where the ship is located and after negotiations with the pirates which resulted in the would-be release. The cargo on the ship is owned by a company for the Juraibah and Almakhzum Corporation and is destined for a road projects in the island of Socotra.
With the latest captures and releases still at least 17 foreign vessels with a total of around 361 crew members (of which 108 are Filipinos) are held and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which are observed off the coast of Somalia, have been reported or reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 110 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded to far for 2008 with until today 51 factual sea-jacking cases (incl. the presently held 17). NATO only lists now 15 cases (still including the sunk FV ETWANANAVA 5), which makes the ignorance to abductions of vessels from non-NATO or non-western or from the least developed countries obvious.
Other related news ------
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Friday that Madrid is using all its resources to secure the release of Spanish photojournalist Jose Cendon, kidnapped in Somalia this week along with a British reporter. During a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Fernandez De la Vega sought to assure the captive's family, friends and colleagues that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was doing everthing possible to resolve the situation. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said his government was working through its ambassador in Kenya and with British authorities and the Daily Telegraph to free the captives. He added that the Spanish envoy in Nairobi has been in contact with Somali officials and other, unspecified interlocutors. The Venezuela-born Cendon has won several awards for his work covering conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, including the 2007 Oskar Barnack Leica Prize for the story "Fear in the Great Lakes," which took him to psychiatric hospitals in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo. Last December, a Spanish doctor and an Argentine nurse working for Doctors Without Borders were kidnapped in Puntland. Spanish Dr. Mercedes Garcia and Argentine nurse Pilar Bauza were released in January unharmed. The African Union (AU) Commission already demanded the release of the journalists."The AU condemns this kidnapping and is asking for the immediate release of the journalists," said the statement. According to local sources the hostages are unharmed and well but tired from the cat-and-mouse game their captors were subjected to by Puntland forces and fortune-seekers haunting them through mountainous terrain. It is hoped that direct contact will be established soon. No demands have come forward yet.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Friday called for tougher international action against the rampant piracy that has threatened to choke one of the world's most important shipping routes. Meles also claimed Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea was backing the pirates who have defied foreign navies in the region and increased attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. "By directly and conspicuously supporting extremists in Somalia and exacerbating its woes, Eritrea is responsible for the rampant piracy in the region", Meles said late Friday. "It is of utmost importance that the international community does more to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden". But many experts argue the piracy problem will never be resolved until there is an end to Somalia's relentless fighting involving a myriad of clans, Islamist groups, as well as Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces. Ethiopia and Eritrea blame each other for the Somali crisis, with Asmara accusing its rival of invasion when it sent in troops in 2006 and Addis Ababa blaming it for supporting the Islamists. On Friday, Ethiopia announced its troops will withdraw from Somalia by the end of 2008, ending an ill-fated two-year occupation but raising fears of a security vacuum in the war-ravaged country.
Egypt is willing to intervene militarily against piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast, alone or as part of an international force, a minister said in remarks published on Saturday. "Egypt is prepared for military intervention if necessary, to protect shipping and tackle the pirates, who can be fought under international law", state newspaper al-Ahram quoted Moufid Shehab, minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs, as saying. Egypt is also ready to take part in an international force, he added. Shehab's remarks was the first official sign that Egypt is considering a military response. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said that tackling piracy is the responsibility of the "international community". Naval experts, however, say the Egyptian navy has enough suitable ships to make an effective contribution to an anti-piracy operation. The Egyptian Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils Dr. Mufid Shehab, said that consultations are underway between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to provide the necessary means to ensure protection of naval movement in the Red Sea, including the use of force if necessary. He added in statement published on Saturday by the state-run Al-Gomhoria newspaper that the maritime movement in the Suez Canal had not been affected yet as a result of the piracy against ships crossing the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.