Terrorism in Somalia: Aerial Reconnaissance Missions carried out under UN Resolution 1851
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
December 22, 2008
With helicopters flying extremely low, over the heads of finally peaceful but long persecuted civilians, the piracy phenomenon will not be uprooted. Simply, the entire Somali nation will perceive the UN as an unfair judge and a vicious enemy.
This is what the 83rd Ecoterra Press Release Update makes very clear, while focusing on several developments related to the piracy phenomenon and expanding on the similar Yemenite phenomenon, namely the abduction of several tourists and the ensuing demand of ransom.
If the international community intends to act belligerently against Somalia, will they act similarly also in the case of Yemen?
I herewith republish the 83rd Ecoterra Press Release Update integrally.
83rd Update 2008-12-18 15:31:53 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
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Day 85 - 2017 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now over two-and-a-half months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved finally, though intensive negotiations have continued.
Rumours spread in Mombassa, that the Islamic fighters of the so called Khalid bin Walid Brigade, who is closely associated with Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki (aka Xassan Turki) and one of the groups ruling Kismayo area in Southern Somalia in the moment, would be behind the capture of MV FAINA have been exposed as totally unfounded and one of the many propaganda actions disturbing the safe release of the vessel and crew. Hassan Turki was targeted but survived an US air strike on March 2nd, 2008. US planes struck the southern Somali town of Dobley. The attack by the AC-130 gunships targeted two homes in the town that were allegedly visited by Turki and caused several civilian deaths.
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 fully responsible for the surely resulting disaster.
Clearing-house:
News from other abducted ships --------
In Putrajaya, Wisma Putra said it had not received any report on a Malaysian tugboat hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. "We are still waiting for a report from the National Security Council. We may issue a statement tomorrow", said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. The Tugboat MASINDRA 7 under Malaysian flag and attached barge ADM1 were sea-jacked on 16th December. The owner of the Malaysian tug MASINDRA SHIPPING of Port Klang / Malaysia actually did not disclose its route to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) vessel, currently protecting the country's commercial vessels in an anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden. Indonesian Army chief Gen. Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal said the RMN vessel 'KD Inderasakti' did not receive any information on the movements of the tug boat from the private company which owned it. "We were not informed, so we do not know the tug boat's movements. Maybe, it sailed through a different route", he told reporters. In the 7.15pm (local time) incident on Dec. 16, the tug boat with 11 crew on board -- all Indonesian nationals -- was hijacked by Somali pirates, who since then struggle with the meanwhile submerged barge AMD1 it has in tow. The vessel is insured by Ship owners' Mutual P&I Association (Luxembourg).
The demands for captured Turkish vessel MV Bosphorus Prodigy, under flag of convenience from Antigua & Barbuda, with eight Ukrainian and three Turkish nationals on board is not known yet. Isko Marine Shipping company, the owners of the vessel, said the health of the crew is satisfactory. There is enough fuel, food and drinking water on the vessel, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported quoting Ukraine´s Consulate General in Istanbul. The vessel without cargo on board was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to the Red Sea. It was captured by seven armed pirates on the Gulf of Aden. At present, Bosphorus Prodigy is sailing towards Somalia. Ukraine´s embassy in Turkey and Ukraine´s Consulate General in Istanbul have been instructed to take control over this issue. The Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda has been in close, continuous contact with the ship´s Istanbul-based management company to better monitor the situation. An official release stated that Antigua and Barbuda´s permanent representatives to the United Nations as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Maritime Administration have been fully informed of the developments concerning the vessel, which had been attacked on 15th December and is commandeered now by 7 pirates, believed to be Somalis.
With the latest captures and releases now at least 18 foreign vessels with a total of at least 351 crew members (of which 91 are Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and 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 trace or information, are still being followed. Over 131 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded to far for 2008 with until today 58 factual sea-jacking cases (incl. the presently held 18). Several other vessels with unclear fate (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. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.
Other related news --------
The civilian population in Somalia is scared to death by first aerial reconnaissance missions carried out under UN resolution 1851. Military helicopters flying just a few meters off the ground could be seen since late on Wednesday and on Thursday morning at Merka town, the regional headquarters of the lower Shabelle Region in Southern Somalia, numerous independent sources reported. "These helicopters have scared the whole population in the coastal town of Merka, because we have not seen helicopters since the United Nations peacekeeping forces abandoned from Somalia in March 1993, but what we have heard earlier in the year from the radio is that American helicopters bombarded the Kenyan-Somali town of Dobley tracking down what they call terrorists, so in fact we were very scared when we saw helicopters hovering low above us" said Abdalla Bajun a resident in the town of Merka speaking with Somaliweyn radio today.
At the moment there are no ships docked at the Merka harbour, which these helicopters are supposed to protect from pirates, and the most panicked people were the fishermen in the old town of Merka. It was only yesterday when the United Nations passed a resolution that the Somali pirates can be attacked on land in a very advanced method regardless of the innocent people on the land. Already this year an unmanned spy-plane fell at Cagaaran location, which is 3 km from the town of Merka. Similar helicopters, presumed to be US-American choppers were on Wednesday seen flying over the old district of Hamarweyn in Benadir region.
The Indian navy said that the Yemeni people, now presumed to be commandeered fishermen, cooperated with them through revealing the hide of the Somali pirates' weapons which were also handed over to Yemeni authorities to be among the case exhibits, a Yemeni source reported. The source affirmed investigation is ongoing into the case and once the investigation is complete the UN would be notified to demonstrate Yemen's cooperation and coordination with all regional parties to fight piracy threatening one of the world's most important waterways.
Chinese sailors on an attacked vessel in the Gulf of Aden actually held the pirates back by themselves. "Seven of the nine pirates landed on our ship, all with weapons", Peng Weiyuan, the captain of attacked MV Zhen Hua 4, said in a telephone interview with China Central Television. "Our crew, who had been well trained and prepared, used water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs, beer bottles and anything else that could be used to battle with them. Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire. Then the helicopter from the joint fleet came to help us". A nearby Malaysian warship KD Indera Sakti was alerted and sent a helicopter to the scene. When the helicopter fired around the Chinese boat, the pirates fled in a speedboat. Media reports had earlier stated a "multilateral" or EU naval force had averted the attack, which proved to be wrong.
China, still a country of serious human rights abuses, which just was pressurized into allowing internet connections for journalists during the Olympics while most Chinese - if at all - have only government controlled and restricted internet access, has discovered now the internet for their governmental spin-doctors not only for cover-ups on Tibet, but also for flexing her naval muscles. "A possible deployment of China's navy to fight pirates in Somalia's coast has the overwhelming support of the country's netizens". the Chinese Daily reported and published further: "In fact, they want the government to send a navy fleet as soon as possible. The navy has just finished an anti-terror drill in the South China Sea, with warships and helicopters "rescuing" hijacked cargo vessels". A survey conducted by www.huanqiu.com showed 90 percent of the 14,124 netizens who were interviewed wanted the government to send the navy to fight the pirates. "We fully support the government's decision and hope a (navy) fleet is sent as soon as possible because China should take part in multinational peacekeeping in the region", said a netizen on huanqiu.com. "It's very important to secure a safe maritime route in Somalia's coast because oil imported by Chinese firms from Arab countries mostly go through it", another netizen, named Zhenhua said on www.zzdnews.com. It seems that China's teens in the elite schools and young business people -- the only ones who possibly could have been interviewed here -- follow governmental ideas blindly.
"Piracy has become a serious threat to shipping, trade and safety on the seas", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao said at a news briefing in Beijing. "That's why we decided to send naval ships to crack down on piracy", Liu said Thursday that 1,265 Chinese merchant ships had passed through the gulf this year. Seven have been attacked. He gave no details about the size of the naval mission, but a Beijing newspaper, reported that the navy was likely to deploy three ships. The Global Times newspaper, a tabloid run by the Communist Party's People's Daily, said on Thursday two destroyers and a large-sized depot ship would set sail for the region after Christmas to defend Chinese shipping. The first tour of duty would be for three months, it said.
The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) will cease the Ops Fajar anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden in February, said acting chief Vice-Admiral Datuk Mohammed Noordin Ali.
He said any decision to resume the operation would depend on the prime minister, who was also defence minister, and the National Security Council. Noordin said the decision to stop the operation was mainly due to its exorbitant cost and RMN's obligations to protect the sovereignty of national waters. He said Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal had agreed to the decision. Noordin was speaking after receiving the KD Mahawangsa, which arrived at the naval base here yesterday after completing its Ops Fajar mission. The ship, led by Captain Khalid Jaafar, is manned by 236 officers and crew.
Another RMN vessel, KD Indera Sakti, is expected to conclude its operations in the gulf in February. Ops Fajar was launched after the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation's (MISC) vessel, MT Bunga Melati Dua was hijacked by Somali pirates in the gulf while heading to Rotterdam on Aug 19. Ten days later, another MISC vessel, MT Bunga Melati Lima, with 36 crewmen, was also hijacked while crossing the same waters. Both ships and their crew have since been released.
Resisting his sacking, Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein (nicknamed Nuur Cadde) on Wednesday night welcomed the United Nations resolution 1851 authorising the enlargement of the international combat against piracy off the coast of Somalia. During a press conference in Baidoa, the transitional seat of the Somali parliament at about 247km north-west of Mogadishu, he said his government fully welcomes UN´s latest decision to broaden the fight against pirates through sea and land. "This is a good international step forward and we are grateful to the UN Security Council for its Tuesday´s decision to take a tougher action against rampant piracy in Somali waters", Nur Hassan Hussein said. My government is ready to help the international community in efforts to rid Somali waters of the notorious buccaneer´s activities, he added. Nur Adde also welcomed Kenya´s decision to impose sanctions on Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf who is accused of being an obstacle to the peace efforts. The Somali Parliament, which sides with Nur Hassan Hussein approved the Djibouti agreement yesterday, but Abdullahi Yussuf was absent from the session and held a separate meeting with parliamentarians close to him in his residence in Baidoa.
A Yemeni tribesman says three German hostages in Yemen are treated well, while Yemeni authorities have arrested a number of tribesmen related to gunmen holding the Germans hostage, security sources said on Tuesday. An Arab newspaper said it had contacted one of the hostages who said she and the others were in good health. Government forces are encircling a mountainous area where the armed tribesmen have been holding the hostages over a land dispute with another tribe since Monday. The gunmen are also demanding the release of two fellow tribesmen jailed for an earlier kidnapping, an official has said, according to Reuters. The hostages are believed to be in an area 60 km (37 miles) east of the capital Sanaa. A woman, who officials first said worked for the United Nations, and her visiting parents were on an excursion to the outskirts of Sanaa on Sunday when they were seized. But the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat said it spoke to the woman who said she worked for German enterprise GTZ which is involved in the preservation of historic sites in Yemen. "One of the hostages, Julia Thielebein, said that they are well and that her parents are not worried", the newspaper said, based on a telephone conversation with the hostage. A security official said on Monday the government has established contact with the tribe to try to secure the release of the hostages. A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said German officials were in contact with Yemeni authorities. He declined to give further details. Disgruntled tribesmen have often kidnapped Western tourists to demand better living conditions, schools and services in the Arabian Peninsula country, one of the poorest outside Africa.
Most have been released unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamist militants who had seized 16 tourists. In January, two Belgian tourists were killed in an attack blamed on al Qaeda-linked militants who have launched frequent attacks on government and Western targets, including a U.S. warship and a French supertanker. Yemen´s powerful tribes have abducted more than 200 foreigners over the past 15 years in a bid to extract concessions from the central government, whose rule is difficult to extend over the lawless countryside. The most recent kidnapping involving foreigners took place in September 2008. An armed group kidnapped Colombian engineers who were working with the Yemen Liquid Natural Gas Project in Shabwa governorate, one month after kidnapping an Algerian engineer working on the same project. The hostages in both cases were released by tribal mediation within 24 hours. In May 2008, an armed group in Marib governorate kidnapped two Japanese tourists and demanded the release of a murder suspect. Tribal mediation secured their release within seven hours of their capture.
In January 2006, an armed group also located in Marib kidnapped five Italian tourists and detained them in the Serwah district for six days until the government arrested the kidnappers and released the hostages. In September 2006, an armed group kidnapped four French tourists in the Shabwa governorate, demanding the transfer of some of their relatives from Abyan prison to Sana´a prison. Most kidnapping incidents in Yemen end with the safe release of the hostages, but in 1998 four tourists out of 16 were killed when security forces tried to release them by force in the Abyan governorate. Meanwhile Yemeni security forces laid siege to the mountain village of Naba´a in the Bani Dhabyan district in an attempt to release three Germans kidnapped last Sunday. The Germans were kidnapped by an armed group in the district of Rada´a in the Al-Baidha province, 130 km east of the capital Sana´a. Colonel Saleh Dahmash, the regional security chief, stated that the security forces surrounded the hide-out and closed all the roads leading to Naba´a, which is 60 km east of Sana´a. Dahmash indicated that security forces arrested some suspects and reassured that the hostages are in a good situation. The German embassy had been in touch with them by phone and ensured they are all ok. Moreover, the embassy is closely following the progress of the sheikhs who are negotiating with the kidnappers.
The armed group, which is affiliated with the Bani Dhabyan tribe that is famous for kidnappings, abducted the German woman who works with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) while she was touring the historical city of Rada´a with her parents, believed to be in their 70s. A local reliable source in Khawlan district, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the head of the kidnapping group, Abd Rabbo Saleh al-Tam, was demanding the government to pay YR 40 million ($200,000) in compensation for a property in Sana´a, the ownership of which he disputed with an influential businessman. He also demanded that police release his brother Mohammed Attam and son Mofareh Abd Raboo Al-Tam who were arrested five months ago over a land dispute. According to the source, tribal mediation is expected to result in the release of the hostages peacefully in the next three days.
Ali Mabkbot Olaib, one of the Bani Dhabyan sheikhs, warned the government that it will face strong resistance in case it attempts to free the Germans by force. Many innocent people from the Bani Dhabyan tribe complained that the government is arresting any man who belongs to the tribe, even if he doesn´t have any connection with the kidnappers or the issues. Meanwhile, police cars surrounded Wednesday the Sana´a residence of Sheikh Saleh Khasha´an an influential figure from Bani Dhabyan in an attempt to arrest him and to force the kidnappers into releasing the hostages. "Security forces cordoned off the house and closed all roads leading to the village", an Interior Ministry official told the media. Although the Yemeni government has ensured that it would not use force to release the hostages. At the same time, many sheikhs from Bany Dhabyan tribe stated that there are more than thirty police cars surrounding the Village of Naba´a. The Minister of Tourism, Nabel Al-Faqeh, stated that the Yemeni government will work towards releasing the German hostages using all available and appropriate means, stating that security personnel are negotiating with the kidnappers.
Al-Faqeh said that the Ministry of Interior is the only institution authorized to negotiate with the kidnappers. Al-Faqeh noted that tourism in Yemen will be affected negatively because of this kidnapping, which is the fourth that Yemen has witnessed during 2008. It is worth mentioning that another clan from the same tribe still holds 8-year-old Mohammed Al-Odaini hostage, whom they kidnapped from his school on Dec. 1, 2008 under the assumption that he is the son of the wealthy businessman Tawfeq Al-Khameri. Although Al-Khameri denies that the child is his, the kidnappers demand Al-Khameri pay a ransom of USD 400,000 as payback over a transaction involving the illegal sale of mercury.
The Yemeni government has recently established special courts to deal with issues concerning the kidnapping of tourists and emphasized the punishment against perpetrators could result in the death sentence. "We met representatives of the government today, and discussed our demands with them", the abductor, who requested anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. He was speaking from Naba'ah, a remote mountainous area in Khawlan district, some 60 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a. "We insisted that our demands should be met before the release of the hostages," said the man, a member of the Bani Dhabian tribe. "Until that happens, the Germans are our guests, and we intend no harm to them", he added. The man, who spoke via a mobile phone, said authorities added a leading tribal dignitary to its negotiators. Police said five tribesmen led by Abdu-Rabu Saleh al-Tam were holding the hostages and stated that the kidnappers had demanded the release of al- Tam's son and brother, who have been jailed at the central prison in Sana'a for abducting five Yemeni engineers and holding them hostage for six months last year.
Al-Tam also demanded authorities to pay him 40 million riyals (200,000 dollars) in compensation for a property in Sana'a, the ownership of which he disputed with an influential businessman. Other sources, however, stated that the kidnappers are demanding the release of a cleric jailed in the United States on terrorism charges, tribal mediators said Thursday. The mediators said the kidnappers' leader, Sheik Abed Rabbo Saleh al-Tam, told them he wants the release of Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad. Al-Moayad was sentenced in 2005 in New York to 75 years in prison for supporting terrorism. Al-Moayad was convicted of conspiring to support and attempting to support al-Qaida and the Palestinian extremist group Hamas. He was lured to Germany by two FBI informants in 2003 and secretly recorded promising to funnel money to Hamas and al-Qaida. He also boasted that Osama bin Laden called him "my sheik". He was arrested by German police and sent to the United States.
In October, an appeals court overturned his conviction and ordered a retrial because of inflammatory testimony about unrelated terrorism cases in his first trial. The demand comes on top of previous demands by Sheik al-Tam for the release of his son and brother from Yemeni jails. The mediators, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of government retribution, said they met al-Tam Wednesday to persuade him to release the hostages. Police meanwhile have arrested some 115 men over the past few days from the Bani Dhabyan tribe, according to Brigadier Mohammed Saleh Tureik, chief of San'a security. Tureik said in a statement late Wednesday that some of the detainees were suspected of having a role in the kidnapping. He also said that Yemeni security forces have almost completely surrounded the Bani Dhabyan tribal lands where they believe the hostages are held and "will not allow the kidnappers to leave without being punished". The tribal mediators say the security forces are not close to the rugged mountainous area which is home to many heavily armed tribesmen.
French carrier CMA CGM announced it will levy an additional $23 per-TEU surcharge on all containers shipped through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden as of Jan. 1.The carrier said transit of container ships through the Gulf in both directions is subject to additional high costs due to increased insurance premiums and other expenses because of the prevailing risks of piracy and added it has taken all steps to ensure the security of its vessels sailing through the Gulf, including raising their speed and joining convoys protected by warships whenever available. A leading carrier on the Asia-Europe route, CMA CGM sends around 65 ships a month through the Gulf of Aden. It says its container vessels are less vulnerable to attack by pirates as they have an average speed of 24 knots and have a higher freeboard, or distance from the waterline to the deck of a loaded ship, than other types of vessels.
End of Ecoterra Press Release Update
Note
Picture: Merka, partly view of a beach.
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