Somali pirates demand $35m

  1. Posted on Sunday 28 September 2008 - 07:41
    deodatus
    deofuga@yahoo.com
    Deodatus Mfugale, AfricaNews reporter in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
    Somali pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia are demanding a ransom of $35m (£19m) before they would release the vessel and its crew. They have warned against any attempt to rescue the crew or cargo of the MV Faina, which is carrying 33 T-72 battle tanks destined for Kenya.
    somalia_pirates_hijacking
    The Kenyan government said it has no knowledge of the ransom demands, the BBC reported. A Russian Navy vessel is heading to the region and the US has said it is also monitoring developments in the area.

    Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said he was concerned by the seizure of the military supplies on board the Ukrainian ship. "They could be used to destabilize the region, and the whole situation on the high seas is a matter of great concern for all of us," he told reporters in New York before a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "We very much hope the international community will respond."

    The official Egyptian news agency, Mena, meanwhile has said that an Egyptian ship with 25 crew, which was hijacked by pirates earlier this month off the coast of Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, had been freed.

    A local official in northern Somalia said a Japanese cargo vessel had also been released after a ransom was paid.

    Entrenched position

    In an interview with the BBC, one of the pirates, Januna Ali Jama, claiming to be speaking on their behalf, said they were prepared to negotiate with the Kenyan government, but would not release MV Faina unless the ransom was paid.

    "We are warning France and others who are thinking of carrying out a rescue that we have the power to reach them wherever they are," he said. "We are demanding a ransom of at least $35m."

    But later in a tersely-worded statement, a spokesman for the Kenyan government said they had not received any credible demands for a ransom to release the ship. He went on to say that the government would not negotiate with what it called international criminals, pirates and terrorists, and said efforts to recover the hijacked ship and its cargo would continue.

    There is growing international concern for the fate of the Ukrainian vessel, which went missing in what are considered some of the world's most dangerous waters.

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