Mogadishu - Somali insurgents Saturday vowed to fight
pirates wreaking havoc off the coast of Somalia, in the wake of the
hijacking of a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying 100-million-
dollars-worth of crude oil.
Pirates have reportedly demanded a 25-million-dollar ransom for
the Sirius Star, which they seized over the weekend around 830
kilometres south-east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa - way outside
the normal piracy danger zones in the Gulf of Aden.
The Sirius Star has been anchored off the Somali port town of
Haradhere since Tuesday. However, Islamist insurgents, angry that a
ship from a Muslim country has been taken, now say they will act
against the pirates.
'We fully control Harardhere - it is impossible for pirates to
hide there,' Sheikh Abdirahim Isse Adow, a spokesman for the
insurgents, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'There are no plans to
launch an attack at this moment, but if see them around we will
fight them.'
Some analysts have said that the insurgents battling the
government in south and central Somalia have links to the pirates.
The pirate groups themselves deny these links, and anecdotal
evidence suggests they are using ransom money to fund lavish
lifestyles rather than help the insurgents.
Piracy also declined in 2006 during the Union of Islamic Courts
brief period of control in Somalia, and Adow said this proved the
insurgents' commitment to ending piracy.
'We strongly oppose all pirates,' he said. 'In our era there were
no pirates in our waters. We will fight them when we get the
chance.'
The Islamic regime was toppled with the help of Ethiopian troops,
sparking a bloody insurgency that has only grown in ferocity. Now
the Islamists are making huge gains and have advanced to the edge of
the capital Mogadishu.
Piracy off the Horn of Africa nation has surged in recent months
as Somalia descends further into chaos and the ineffectual central
government continues to squabble rather than govern.
Another three ships were seized after the Sirius Star was taken.
Prior to the latest seizures, the International Maritime Bureau
(IMB) said there had been 92 attempts at piracy in the region this
year, 36 of them successful.
Around 17 vessels are in the hands of pirates along with over 300
crew.
The surge in piracy has prompted increased patrols by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, the US-led coalition forces,
India and France along the Somali coast.
The European Union has also authorized a force of between five
and seven frigates, which is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Aden
early December.
However, the increased naval presence has not deterred the
pirates as they pursue huge ransoms.
London-based think tank Chatham house said in October that
pirates had received an estimated 30 million dollars in ransoms this
year.
Shipping firms and the international community are demanding
firmer action against the pirates, and this seems to be slowly
coming.
The Indian navy earlier this week destroyed a pirate mothership
for the first time. It is expected to take more aggressive action
after receiving permission to actively pursue pirates, Indian media
reports said Friday.
But shipping companies are beginning to avoid the Gulf of Aden -
a busy shipping channel which forms part of the route linking the
Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.
Industry analysts say that this will drive up the cost of
shipping as companies take the longer route round the Cape of Good
Hope.
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