|
News -
Travel
|
|
Thursday, 18 March 2010 09:53 |
Two anti-pirate actions off Somalia have thinned the ranks of the would-be marauders, a European Union project reported Wednesday.
The latest incident occurred early Wednesday, when would-be pirates in two skiffs approached a vessel off Somalia at high speed, the European Union Naval Force (EU-NAVFOR) reported on its Web site.
But they appear to have picked the wrong target: the vessel turned out to be a Royal Netherlands Navy warship, the HNLMS Tromp, which was patrolling the region, EU-NAVFOR said.
The warship fired warning shots as the skiffs approached and deployed its helicopter to track down the suspects, who had turned tail, it said. An EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft from Sweden tracked a third boat, the suspected pirates' mother ship.
|
|
News -
Travel
|
|
Thursday, 18 March 2010 09:42 |
 |
| Dutch marines pilot a seized pirate skiff, it was later destroyed |
Dutch Marines fought off an ill-advised attempt by pirates to hijack the warship Tromp off the coast of Somalia yesterday.
Troops fired warning shots when the pirates raced towards them in two small skiffs — prompting a swift about-turn and an unsuccessful attempt to flee when the pirates realised their mistake. The skiffs were later sunk and the pirates’ weapons confiscated. “It shows a lack of sophistication — but it is a warning that they will attack any vessel,” Commander John Harbour, an EU Naval Force spokesman, said.
The EU Naval Force has disrupted 11 pirate attack groups off the coast of East Africa over the past two weeks as part of a more offensive mindset to stop pirate attacks, he said.
|
|
News -
Politics
|
|
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 11:09 |
A Toronto man has been killed in Somalia while fighting with the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabab, according to a message posted on the Internet.
The message, which accompanies a video posted on YouTube, identifies the man as "Mohamed al Muhajiri" and says he worshipped at the Abu Huraira Mosque in Toronto.
The death could not be verified last night.
It was first reported yesterday by the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism research company that monitors extremist Internet sites.
The RCMP and CSIS have been investigating a half-dozen Somali-Canadians suspected of joining Al-Shabab last fall. Several of them worshipped at the Abu Huraira mosque.
|
|
|
News -
Politics
|
|
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 10:58 |
 |
Somali government soldiers man a position near frontline of heavy clashes in northern Mogadishu, 11 Mar 2010: Photo AFP
|
A United Nations report on Somalia says no side in the country's conflict has the strength to impose its will on the others and stabilize the chaotic, war-torn nation.
The report, compiled by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia, was presented to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday after portions were leaked to news organizations last week.
The authors say the Somali transitional government is weakened by corruption "at all levels" and that its soldiers are mainly loyal to individual government officials or military officers.
They say insurgent groups like al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam are better organized and disciplined but lack popular support and are equally likely to suffer internal divisions.
The report makes recommendations for improving the situation, including sanctions against designated individuals and entities, and a review of a 1992 arms embargo that the authors say is routinely violated.
|
|
News -
Aid
|
|
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 10:49 |
|
Members of the U.N. Security Council want an outside investigation of charges of widespread diversion of U.N. aid to radical Islamist rebels in Somalia, Mexico's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.
 |
| WFP food shipment arriving in Somalia. |
"There is a large consensus for the idea of an independent investigation that should be carried out," Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller told reporters after a closed door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council.
A report submitted to a council committee by a U.N. panel of experts that monitors compliance with U.N. sanctions against Somalia and Eritrea said up to half the food aid for needy Somalis was being diverted to a network of corrupt contractors, al Shabaab militants and local U.N. staff.
It also said a Somali businessman linked to al Shabaab who likely received a ransom paid for kidnapped aid workers was a contractor for both the World Food Program (WFP) and the U.N. children's fund, UNICEF, in Somalia.
|
|
News -
Travel
|
|
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 14:40 |
|
Virgin Islands owned, Kiribati-flagged, 22, 294 tonnes chemical tanker MV Theresa VIII, which had originally a crew of 29 seamen, has been released from the Central Somali coast near Harardheere - after a substantial ransom payment.
Local observers confirmed that after a ransom delivery this morning the last pirate left the vessel in the early afternoon today and the vessel sailed now free from the dangerous coast.
EU NAVFOR, which had not been asked to assist in this case, also confirmed the release as did the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme. MV THERESA VIII was seized on Nov. 16, 2009 in the southern Somali Basin, north-west of the Seychelles. The 22,294 dwt tanker has now a crew of only 28 North Koreans, since the captain of the tanker had died from gunshot wounds sustained during the hijack.
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 189 |
