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East Africa Somalia Pirates hijack Egyptian ship off Somalia
East Africa Somalia Pirates hijack Egyptian ship off Somalia
Sep
04
2008
| Pirates hijack Egyptian ship off Somalia |
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 Somali pirates have hijacked yet another ship and are taking it and a French yacht with two French nationals onboard to their remote coastal base, a regional government official said on Thursday. Gunmen from the Horn of Africa nation are currently holding about 10 vessels for ransom at Eyl, a lawless former fishing outpost now used by gangs behind a sharp rise in attacks at sea.
The pirates are sailing to Eyl with the French yacht and another
Egyptian ship that they hijacked last night, Hassan Muse Alore, the
minister for minerals in northern Somalia's Puntland region, told
Reuters by telephone from Eyl.
He had no details on the Egyptian ship, but said he was visiting the
area to check on reports that another of the hijacked vessels -- an
Iranian bulk carrier -- had arms onboard.
We are now with local elders and still investigating the matter, he said, without elaborating.
Heavily armed gangs have seized at least 30 vessels so far this year in
the Gulf of Aden, making the shipping lanes between Somalia and Yemen
the most dangerous in the world.
Late on Tuesday, pirates seized a French yacht with two French citizens onboard, the French Foreign Ministry said.
It said a U.N. Security Council resolution in June gave France the
right to pursue the pirates into Somali waters, but that it had to
consider the best way to save the hostages.
In April, French commandos launched a helicopter raid to arrest six
Somali pirates after they freed the 30-strong crew of a luxury yacht
they had hijacked days earlier.
Somali pirates are demanding a ransom of more than $9 million to free
two Malaysian tankers, a Japanese-managed bulk carrier and a Nigerian
tug boat held captive near Eyl.
The authorities in semi-autonomous Puntland have been criticised for
failing to crack down on the pirates, as well as money counterfeiters
and kidnapping gangs on land.
But regional officials say the hefty ransoms paid out by ship owners
are fuelling corruption and an explosion of piracy offshore that they
are unable to contain.We have no power to control the multiplying numbers of pirates Ahmed
Saed Ow-Nur, Puntland's minister for fisheries and marine resources,
told Reuters. Even some of the Puntland police are involved in piracy, because they can make a hell of a lot of money, he said.
Source: Reuters
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