Somali Pirates Hijack Another Ship

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http://voanews.com/english/2008-11-25-voa60.cfm

Somali Pirates Hijack Another Ship, Drop Ransom for Saudi Tanker

By Kilner

Nairobi

25 November 2008

Pirates have hijacked another ship off the coast of Somalia, this

time a Yemeni vessel carrying steel. As Kilner reports from

VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, pirates have dropped their

ransom on the largest ship in their possession - a Saudi Arabian oil

tanker - to $15 million.

Pirates seized the MV Adina in the Gulf of Aden as it headed to the

Yemeni island of Socotra, according to Yemen's official news agency.

The ship was carrying over 500 tons of steel and seven crew members

from Somalia, Yemen and Panama.

The ship had been scheduled to reach its destination last Thursday,

and it was not clear when exactly the ship was seized. Yemeni

officials said they have communicated with the pirates, who are

demanding a ransom of $2 million.

Pirates currently hold over a dozen ships and over 200 crew members,

off the coast of Somalia. Pirates captured the biggest vessel yet on

November 15, the Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian tanker carrying $100

million worth of oil.

A man who identified himself as a pirate aboard the ship told VOA by

telephone that the pirates had reduced their ransom demand for the

tanker from $25 million to $15 million, in line with earlier media

reports.

NATO has four warships in the area, and the European Union, along

with Russia and India, have committed naval vessels to deal with the

problem. Germany announced on Tuesday that it was willing to send

1,400 troops to join the E.U. mission, which is set to begin in

December.

The head of the U.S. military's Africa Command, or Africom, General

Ward, who is Nairobi for meetings with Kenyan officials, said

the United States is concerned about the rise in piracy, and is

involved in multilateral efforts to provide security, but that the

issue is not a primary focus for Africom.

" The United States is participating in those activities currently,

but again, that is not specifically being controlled by the United

States Africa Command, " he said.

Ward said Africom's main objectives involve building African military

capacity and strengthening security cooperation between the United

States and African countries. He said that piracy was a criminal

matter, and that legal rules have to be followed in pursuing pirates.

" Piracy is a very complex issue. I don't know if you would ever have

enough vessels to have coverage of the entire ocean, " he said.

There has been some speculation that Islamist rebels who are fighting

Somalia's transitional government, and who control much of south and

central Somalia, where the tanker has been located, are profiting

from the piracy. But the Islamists have condemned the pirates'

activities and the radical al-Shabab faction threatened on Friday to

combat pirates. Piracy in the region reached a low point when the

Islamists were in control of Somalia in 2006.

Ward said that he had no evidence of ties between al-Qaida and Somali

pirates, but that the possibility would be a cause for concern.