Pirates lower ransom demand to $5M

Pirates who seized a Ukrainian vessel loaded with tanks and weapons off the African coast have lowered their ransom demand to $5 million.

[Jack]

These pirates are gonna die...

[Bear]

Jack wrote:

These pirates are gonna die...

I sincerely hope so.

[Cherrypie]

That is kind of cool in a way because they are "pirates" but it is pretty mean of them to ransom.

I agree with Jack and Bear. These pirates are gonna die.

[mohamedi]

Why should they die?
Let the mzungu pay.
They illegally fish in our waters and dump their waste.
Kenya is not paying.
The islamic courts Union cleaned the somali coast of pirates.Their 6 month reign was the most peaceful period in Somalia's history.
Why was Ethiopia sponsored to overthrow them ((although it was only a tactical withdrawal on their part?))

[katfish]

keep the stuff. Probably made by cheap chinese labor anyway. Maybe all that stuff will blow up in the pirates faces. What a bunch of losers.

[Lance Winslow]

mohamedi wrote:

Why should they die?
Let the mzungu pay.
They illegally fish in our waters and dump their waste.
Kenya is not paying.
The islamic courts Union cleaned the somali coast of pirates.Their 6 month reign was the most peaceful period in Somalia's history.
Why was Ethiopia sponsored to overthrow them ((although it was only a tactical withdrawal on their part?))

There is a rich maritime history of executing pirates...why change just because someone pissed or fished in the Gulf of Aden?

[Sarah Plain]

Sounds like something a bunch of Democrats might do. Figuratively speaking, of course. And the ransom might be somewhere around...oh....say....$700 billion.

[WildWest]

These are not pirates but poor ex-navy guard intercepting ships dumping toxic in theirs seas and illegal fishing activities.

[FedUpWithItAll44]

Call me stupid & naive, but I had no idea "pirates" still existed. Sounds so Peter Panish.

[abdi farah]

u people dont understand its actualy quite simple stop looting are fish and dumping toxic waste on our shores , and illigaly entering out waters ......... simple

pirates are seen as coast gaurds and have the full support of the somali people

we somali wont think twice to cut the throat of some pink people who illegaly enter our waters, we will even take pictures to send to their family's

[Bear]

abdi farah wrote:

u people dont understand its actualy quite simple stop looting are fish and dumping toxic waste on our shores , and illigaly entering out waters ......... simple
pirates are seen as coast gaurds and have the full support of the somali people
we somali wont think twice to cut the throat of some pink people who illegaly enter our waters, we will even take pictures to send to their family's

Pink people? sounds a little racist to me.
People supporting pirates?Seems like someone needs to become civilized.
Entering your waters? What is the internationally accepted territorial limit? Not what you seem to think.
Cut the throat and send pictures? Again someone needs a little civilization.

If this attitude keeps up Somali Pirates may find themselves in more trouble than they can handle. Civilized countries are slow to anger and also slow to act BUT when they are pushed to their limit-- watch out.

[Canuck]

The pirates will soon be begging for their lives instead of the 5 Million dollars.
My understanding is that soon the Russian patrol ship Neustrashimy will be at the scene and closure of this event will soon be at hand.
The pirates are very unlucky to have to deal with the Russian Navy. They are in a loose loose situation.

[Bear]

Canuck wrote:

The pirates will soon be begging for their lives instead of the 5 Million dollars.
My understanding is that soon the Russian patrol ship Neustrashimy will be at the scene and closure of this event will soon be at hand.
The pirates are very unlucky to have to deal with the Russian Navy. They are in a loose loose situation.

I hope you are right.
I think you mean "lose" not "loose"

[biomed_guy]

Think Dubrovka Theater. Russians don't negotiate with terrorists (or pirates). Maybe the pirates need to come up with the 5 mil to pay the Russians not to kill them.

btw, when's that Russian ship going to get there, anyway? It's not exactly rapid response.

[Bear]

biomed_guy wrote:

Think Dubrovka Theater. Russians don't negotiate with terrorists (or pirates). Maybe the pirates need to come up with the 5 mil to pay the Russians not to kill them.
btw, when's that Russian ship going to get there, anyway? It's not exactly rapid response.

Possible scenario: Wait until the last minute. Let the other guys take the risks. Then rush in and tell the world "See what we did, aren't we heroes!"
If Rusia acted and Russian sailor(s) were killed they would be blamed. IF they let others act first and russian sailor(s) are injured guess where the fingers will be pointed.

[Swandiver]

Kenya dismisses tanks 'evidence'

A Kenyan minister has denied BBC reports that the tanks seized by Somali pirates were bound for South Sudan.

According to the cargo's manifest, obtained by the BBC, the contract included the phrase "GOSS", widely used to mean the Government Of South Sudan.

But Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said it meant General Ordinance Supplies and Security and that this was a code for the department of defence.

He also said force should be used to rescue the weapons from the pirates.

He said Kenya would send warships to join the US and Russian ships surrounding the Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, which is still moored off the Somali coast.

Last week, the Somali government said the ship's owners were involved in direct negotiations with the pirates, who are demanding a $20m (£11m) ransom.

Kenya has always insisted that the military hardware was destined for its army but refused to comment on the BBC evidence on Tuesday.

Officials in Ukraine have also denied that GOSS stands for South Sudan but military and diplomatic sources insist that it does.

The BBC's Karen Allen in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says that although the import of military hardware to Sudan is not illegal, if the weapons were being passed on, it would put Kenya in a tight spot diplomatically as Kenya helped broker an end to the civil war between South Sudan and the government in Khartoum in 2005.

But Francis Nazario, head of South Sudan's mission in Brussels, said he had seen the manifest and it did not prove anything.

"What I know is that we have nothing at all to do with the content of this ship, and the ship was not heading for South Sudan," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"I think if there was anything like that we would not hide it because constitutionally we have the right to do so, to bring arms from anywhere."

Military balance

On Tuesday, a Kenyan court granted bail to Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme, who had been arrested after he said the tanks were bound for South Sudan.

Mr Mwangura was charged with making alarming statements and illegal possession of marijuana.

However, he has not yet raised the 200,000 shillings,($2,700) and so he is still in custody.

Last week, Western military experts told the BBC that the tanks on board the MV Faina were going to Sudan and that the shipment indicated an arms race between northern and southern Sudan had begun.

They are reported to both be building up their forces ahead of a referendum on independence for the South in 2011.

The military experts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a previous delivery of tanks had taken place last November.

Source: BBC
http://news.myjoyonline.com/international/200...

[Me Too]

Any new news, or still on the down low?

[Swandiver]

Me Too wrote:

Any new news, or still on the down low?

Looks like it's over for the pirates and the shipment will proceed to Kenya where it had been destined all along. Kenya has probably bought military hardware from Ukraine for the first time and this has upset Britain and some other western suppliers who usually supply Kenya. This probably sparked speculation that the shipment was for Somalia.

Somali troops free cargo ship held for 5 days
By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR Associated Press
Oct. 14, 2008, 8:59AM

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Soldiers from a semiautonomous Somali region, their guns blazing, freed a Panama-flagged cargo ship from pirates today as other pirates failed to act on their threat to blow up an arms-laden Ukrainian ship if no ransom was paid.

Relatives of crew members of the Ukrainian vessel, which is carrying battle tanks and other heavy weapons, have asked Ukraine to pay the ransom pirates have demanded. The demand started at US$20 million but appears to have been reduced.

The Panama-flagged vessel and its 11 crew members — nine Syrians and two Somalis — were freed after a gunbattle in which one soldier was killed and three wounded, said Deputy Seaport Minister Abdiqadir Muse Geele.

No hostages or pirates were hurt, Geele said.

The 10 pirates who had held the ship since Thursday surrendered when they ran out of ammunition, said Geele, a deputy minister in the government of the northern Somalia semiautonomous region of Puntland.
Puntland's Foreign Minister Ali Abdi Aware said his government's ragtag coast guard can fight pirates in the region, which is a hotbed of maritime hijackings.

"We will continue to fight against pirates," Aware said. "The world should halt paying ransom."

Pirates had threatened to destroy the Ukrainian ship by early today unless ransom was paid. But the U.S. Navy said the deadline passed without incident.

The MV Faina, carrying a crew of 20, is still in one piece, said Lt. Stephanie Murdock, a spokeswoman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

American warships continue to monitor the Faina, which is anchored near the Somali port of Hobyo, Murdock said.

A spokesman for the pirates had said Monday they were considering extending the deadline. They have held the ship and its crew since Sept. 25.

The pirates were not available for comment today.

Relatives of the crew members demanded Monday that the Ukrainian government stop delaying and just pay the ransom.

They tried and failed to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Ukraine's government says it opposes the use of force against the pirates, but as a matter of policy it will not negotiate with terrorists.

The government of Somalia has authorized other nations to use military force to end the hijacking.....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/...