Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

International-UN-NGOs

UN Security Council approves sending a Kenya-led force to Haiti to fight violent gangs

2023-10-03

[FoxNews] The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to send a multinational armed force to Haiti led by Kenya to help combat violent gangs, marking the first time in almost 20 years that a force is deployed to the troubled Caribbean country.

The resolution drafted by the U.S. and Ecuador was approved with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from China and the Russia Federation.

The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for one year, with a review after nine months. The vote was held nearly a year after Haiti’s prime minister requested the immediate deployment of an armed force, which is expected to quell a surge in gang violence and restore security so Haiti can hold long-delayed elections.

A deployment date has not been set, although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said a security mission to Haiti could deploy "in months."

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Alfred Mutua, said last week that the force could deploy within two to three months, or possibly early January. He also noted that key officers are being taught French.

It wasn’t immediately clear how big the force would be. Kenya’s government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. In addition, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda also have pledged to send personnel.

"With this action, the council has ignited a beacon of hope for the beleaguered people of Haiti," said Martin Kimani, Kenya's U.N. ambassador.

Last month, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden promised to provide logistics and $100 million to support the Kenyan-led force.

Link

Africa Horn

9 Shabaab men killed in battle with Kenya army

2011-10-29

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenyan troops on Thursday killed nine A

l-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
fighters and injured several others in a fierce exchange of fire after they were ambushed by the gunnies in Southern Somalia.

The Kenyan troops were ambushed by an estimated 45 Al-Shabaab fighters as they moved from the town of Tabda to Beles Qooqani in central Jubaland to reinforce their compatriots.

"Today, at around 11.30am, Kenyan troops came under Al-Shabaab attack, which marks the first engagement with the militia force. Al-Shabaab strength at the time of attack is estimated at 45 orcs," said Kenya Defence Forces front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir in a statement.

Two Kenyan soldiers were maimed, one critically during the fire exchange and were airlifted to the Advanced Dressing Station in Garissa for treatment.

It was the first time the Kenyan troops were encountering resistance from the gunnies since they started Operation Linda Nchi 10 days ago.

"The attack was conducted as KDF was moving from Tabda to Beles Qooqani to reinforce the forward positions. Nine Al-Shabaab killed with others escaping with injuries. Two KDF troops injured, one critically. The soldiers have all been airlifted for medication," the statement said.

Earlier, Al-Shabaab caused a stir by reportedly asking for a truce and negotiations, a report later denied by government front man Alfred Mutua.

A cat among pigeons

In Parliament, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka appeared to have thrown a cat among pigeons when he declared that the government is ready to negotiate with the Al-Shabaab for an end to the current military operation if the group renounces violence and stops its actions there.

He claimed Al-Shabaab has frequently been in touch with the government.

"The truth is the Al-Shaabab is frequently and constantly in touch with the Kenyan government...If the Al-Shaabab would like to discuss and engage with the Kenyan government, our channels are very open," said Mr Onyonka.

"If they don't renounce violence, the Kenyan government shall not discuss anything with them," he added.

His comments provoked a rare media comment from Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura who told the Nation that he "is not aware" of any negotiations between Kenya and Al-Shabaab.

"The government cannot negotiate with a terrorist group," he said.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
he said, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is sending a delegation for "bilateral talks to strengthen cooperation between the two countries", possibly a polite way of saying the two sides have agreed to sit down and hammer out a deal on the military operation.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has been sending mixed signals as to whether he supports the campaign against Al-Shabaab.

At the same time, Al-Shabaab was reported to have called on its supporters inside Kenya to stop throwing grenades and set off a major kaboom.

The terror group's fighters also crossed the border in Mandera and struck at Lafey. They are reported to have thrown a grenade that killed two Ministry of Education officials, a civic leader and their driver.

The truck was ferrying Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination papers.

North Eastern provincial commissioner James ole Seriani said Kenyan forces had crossed into Somalia in pursuit of the gunnies responsible for the morning attack.

"We will follow them to their hideout using all means at our disposal," the PC warned.

In Somalia, Maj Chirchir said Kenyan forces attacked the town of Anole from the air at dawn on Thursday.

The attack was aimed at destroying a camp used by the Al-Shabaab for logistics and training of fighters.

To the South, Kenyan forces were preparing to capture Burgavo, a key town used by the gunnies for charcoal and fish business, which accounts for the bulk of their revenues.

Maj Chirchir confirmed that the Kenyan troops had also captured Busar town and were advancing towards another Al-Shabaab controlled town, Burahache.

As the Kenyan troops intensified the war against the Al-Shabaab, the government reportedly took its diplomatic offensive to the UN Security Council, stating that it had permission from the Transitional Federal Government to conduct the military operation in the war-torn country.

Bar Kulan, a public radio station operating in Somalia, said Kenya's Ambassador to the UN, Macharia Kamau, had written to the Security Council saying that the Kenya government had decided to take pre-emptive actions "in direct consultations and liaison with the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu" after an escalation of terrorist acts and incursions by Al-Shabaab orcs.

He attached last week's communiqué in which Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula and Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Hussein Arab Isse agreed "to undertake coordinated pre-emptive action and the pursuit of any armed elements that continue to threaten to attack both countries," the station reported.

The CNN had quoted an unnamed Kenya government official claiming that the gunnies had approached the government expressing a desire to negotiate.

But Dr Mutua, in a press briefing, disputed the reports and said that Kenya would not talk with the orcs.

"Al-Shabaab has not contacted Kenya in any way," said Dr Mutua.

He said Kenyan troops have enjoyed success since crossing the border into Somalia to pursue Al-Shabaab.

"They are running scared. I think they are busy running for their lives," Dr Mutua said. "They don't have time to talk."

Defence assistant minister Joseph Nkaissery also dismissed the reports. "There is nothing like that," he told the Nation.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Kenyan Motives in Somalia Predate Recent Abductions

2011-10-27

The Kenyan government revealed on Wednesday that its extensive military foray into Somalia this month to battle Islamist militants was not simply a response to a wave of recent kidnappings, as previously claimed, but was actually planned far in advance, part of a covert strategy to penetrate Somalia and keep the violence in one of Africa's most anarchic countries from spilling into one of Africa's most stable.

For several years, the American-backed Kenyan military has been secretly arming and training clan-based militias inside Somalia to safeguard Kenya's borders and economic interests, especially a huge port to be built just 60 miles south of Somalia.

Sounds sorta like what the Israelis did for a time in southern Lebanon. I thought that was a good strategy then though the world wouldn't let the evvvvvvil Jooooz get away with it. I think it's a good strategy for the Kenyans -- if you have to put up with crazy neighbors, try to keep them at arms length.

But now many diplomats, analysts and Kenyans fear that the country, by essentially invading southern Somalia, has bitten off far more than it can chew, opening itself up to terrorist reprisals and impeding the stressed relief efforts to save hundreds of thousands of starving Somalis.

"We need more hand lotion, our hands are so chapped from wringing!"

Somalia has been a thorn in Kenya's side ever since Kenya became independent in 1963, and the two countries have followed wildly different paths. Somalia has become synonymous with famine, war and anarchy, while Kenya has become one of America's closest African allies, a bastion of stability and a favorite of tourists worldwide.

When Kenya sent troops storming across Somalia's border on Oct. 16, government officials initially said that they were chasing kidnappers who had recently abducted four Westerners inside Kenya, two from beachside bungalows, and that Kenya had to defend its tourism industry.

But on Wednesday, Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government's chief spokesman, revised this rationale, saying the kidnappings were more of a "good launchpad."

"An operation of this magnitude is not planned in a week," Mr. Mutua said. "It's been in the pipeline for a while."

Many analysts wonder how Kenya will be able to defy history and stabilize Somalia when the United Nations, the United States, Ethiopia and the African Union have all intervened before, with little success. They argue that the Kenyan operation seems uncoordinated and poorly planned, with hundreds of troops bogged down in the mud from rains that fall at this time every year.

The Kenyans do have the advantage of knowing the area, but logistics are a bitch for anyone and everyone.

Kenyan military officials also publicly said the United States and France were helping them, but both countries quickly distanced themselves from the operation, insisting that they were not taking part in the combat.

"The invasion was a serious miscalculation, and the Kenyan economy is going to suffer badly," said David M. Anderson, a Kenya specialist at Oxford.

Oh what would we do without experts?

The Shabab, who have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, have killed hundreds in suicide attacks in Somalia and are now vowing to punish Kenya, much as they struck Uganda last year for sending peacekeepers.

There have already been two grenade attacks in Nairobi, which Kenyan officials said were the work of Shabab members, and this usually laid-back capital city has shifted into war mode. Security guards peer into purses at supermarkets, shopping centers are deserted because many Kenyans are now scared to congregate in public, and the American government has warned of "an imminent threat of terrorist attacks" at malls and nightclubs.

Despite their close relationship with Kenyan security services, which receive millions of dollars in American aid each year, American officials said they had been caught off guard by the incursion.

"The United States did not encourage the Kenyan government to act, nor did Kenya seek our views," said Katya Thomas, a spokeswoman at the American Embassy in Nairobi. "We note that Kenya has a right to defend itself."

Pentagon officials are now watching cautiously. "This is not something that's coordinated with us at all, so it's not something we have much knowledge about," a senior Pentagon official. "We want to see how this develops."

Pentagon officials said the immediate impact of dispersing Shabab fighters was good. But without knowing much about the overall Kenyan strategy or long-term plan, they are a bit wary.

"It's difficult to discern what's the next step," the official said.

Kenyan officials say the next step is marching to Kismayu, a port town controlled by the Shabab, who derive tens of millions of dollars a year in taxes from it.

There's a good idea: take it away from the terrorists, use it as a logistics base, and give the third-world relief organizations a place to work.

Link

Africa Horn

Al Shabaab warns Kenyan soldiers

2011-10-17

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab rebels on Sunday warned Kenyan soldiers, as they crossed the frontier to attack Death Eater strongholds, that they would feel the "pain of bullets."

"Kenya violated the territorial rights of Somalia by entering our holy land, but I assure you that they will return disappointed, God willing," said Sheikh Hassan Turki, a senior Shabaab leader.

"Mujahideen fighters will force them to test the pain of the bullets."

Kenyan government front man Alfred Mutua said on Sunday that its troops had entered southern Somalia to fight the Shabaab, who it says are responsible for attacks on its territory, including the recent kidnapping four foreigners.

In response, the Shabaab called on Somalis to rally and attack the Kenyan troops.

"I call on all Somalis to stand united against this blood-thirsty enemy that has crossed into our territories and the apostate Somali forces of Evil helping them," Turki added.

Kenya's assault comes a day after its Internal Security Minister George Saitoti branded the bad turban Shabaab rebels "the enemy" and vowed to attack them "wherever they will be".

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Ugandan opposition leader returns home

2011-05-13

[Al Jazeera] Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has returned home a day after he was barred from boarding a flight from Kenya, and hours before president Yoweri Museveni was sworn into his fourth term.

Massive crowds welcomed Besigye, lining the road from the airport to Kampala, until police dispersed thousands.

Reporting from Kampala, Al Jizz's Malcolm Webb said, "the crowd was dispersed by police and soldiers. they fired tear gas and water canons and chased people away with sticks".

Soon after, however, Besigye's supporters regrouped and continued a march toward the capital.

Already in Kampala, leaders of Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zim-bob-we, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan showed up for Museveni's inauguration.

This is Museveni fourth swearing in as Uganda's president, after promising in 2001 to retire from politics.

Barred from entry
Besigye was barred from boarding his flight from Kenya on Wednesday.

His party said Kenya Airways was told by Ugandan state security "that if Besigye was on board they would not be given landing rights".

Kenya Airways confirmed that version of events, and agencies reported that journalists at the Ugandan airport were forcibly ejected by airport security and police.

But Ugandan minister of information Kabakumba Matsiko told parliament later on Wednesday that the government did not block Besigye's return. He said former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi was on the plane and did not want Besigye on it.

The former president was travelling to Uganda for Thursday's presidential inauguration of Yoweri Museveni.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics:...
Kenyan parliament member Charles Kilonzo accused his own government of colluding with Museveni to frustrate Besigye, saying that Kenya was working with Museveni to fight the opposition in Uganda.

But Kenyan government front man Alfred Mutua denied the government's involvement, saying that Besigye had missed his flight and that he had been booked on a later flight.

"Besigye is free to travel within Kenya or travel from Kenya at any time or day of his choice,'' Mutua said. "He is free to take any flight of his choice. The government of Kenya is not involved in his travel plans.''

Elections challenged
Besigye pointed out the hypocrisy of his being barred from his own country, saying that it is unconstitutional.

"Every Ugandan has the right all the time to return to Uganda. So it's a contradiction that he [Museveni] wants to swear by that constitution tomorrow which he is violating today,'' Besigye said on Wednesday.

According to official results of last February's election, Besigye, 55, won 26 per cent of the vote, while Museveni, 62, took 68 per cent, but Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) says the results were falsified, and that both candidates received just under 50 percent of the vote, an outcome that
would have required a run-off.

Museveni has accused the opposition of trying to spread chaos in response to its loss in the election, saying on Tuesday that he planned to introduce constitutional amendments that would see bail prohibited for
certain charges, including rioting and economic sabotage.

Besigye and other opposition politicians have been released on bail after recent protest-related arrests.

He had been in Kenya seeking treatment for injuries he suffered from a series of demonstrations against rising food and fuel prices, which left at least five people dead.

He was first taken to hospital in Kampala at the end of April after Ugandan police smashed the windows of his car and sprayed him with tear gas in an incident caught on camera. He was then transferred to a Nairobi hospital.

Besigye told Al Jizz at the time that he remained committed to non-violent protest.

Link

Africa Horn

Kenya, Ethiopia may attack Somali al-Shabaab

2011-03-01

[Al Arabiya] Kenyan and Ethiopian troops could attack Somali rebel group

al-Shabaab
... Hrakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghan. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
inside the Horn of Africa nation following the rebel's latest threat to strike at Kenya, security sources said on Monday.

The al-Shabaab group, which claims ties to al-Qaeda and has been waging a four-year insurgency against Somalia's government, said on Sunday it would strike at neighboring Kenya for training Somali government forces and allowing Ethiopian troops to operate from its towns.

"Kenya has long been working to undermine the existence of the Islamic sharia in Somalia," al-Shabaab front man Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said.

"We shall no longer tolerate the constant aggression and ill acts of Kenya against our Mohammedan society. Kenya will bear responsibility for the consequences of the continuing aggression," he added.

Tens of thousands of Kenyans have been fleeing a border town after shells fired during fighting on the Somali side of the frontier landed near a hospital and a cop shoppe on the Kenyan side. An official with a group representing aid organizations said one Kenyan had died and 20 had been maimed.

The al Shabaab militia has been stung after Somali forces backed by government-friendly militia struck at the bad turbans' strongholds in the capital Mogadishu and in southern Somalia, where the rebels control the border town of Balad Hawa, a stone's throw away from the Kenyan town of Mandera and Ethiopia.

Somali troop numbers have been bolstered by the deployment of hundreds of new recruits trained in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The new government offensive has seen Somali forces claw back parts of Mogadishu.

Fleeing residents said Mandera resembled a military camp.

"We expect a major offensive any moment from tonight," said a Kenya military officer at the frontier with Somalia.

"The plan to enter Somalia and confront al-Shaabab is the only way to protect our territory. Kenya has no option it must fight this group right inside Somalia," the source added.

Security sources said a convoy of Somali soldiers trained in Kenya backed by Kenyan troops had arrived at the border on Sunday night where they were camping, ready for the incursion.

However,
The infamous However...
Kenya's government front man said the country's troops would not launch strikes inside Somalia.
"There is no such plan (to attack inside Somalia). We have police and security forces there to ensure the fighting does not spill over into Kenya," Alfred Mutua told Rooters in Nairobi.

A Kenyan Treasury official said on Monday the country was seeking parliament's approval for extra spending on security along Kenya's frontier with Somalia.

Residents flee
The al-Shabaab has said in the past that it would attack Kenya but so far has yet to do so. Last year, the group bombed Uganda in twin attacks that killed nearly 80 people in retaliation for Kampala providing peacekeeping troops that have helped Somalia's government stay in power.

Al-Qaeda has already hit Kenya in two major attacks, in 1998 and 2002.

Kenyan Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere urged Kenyans to be more vigilant, and called for tighter security at shopping malls, hotels and in public transport vehicles.

"We are not taking this threat lightly," he said.

The fighting in Somalia's Balad Hawa has paralysed activities across the border in Mandera and forced residents to seek refuge in towns away from the porous frontier.

Issack Dualle of the Mandera NGO Forum, representing non-governmental organizations, said aid agencies had closed their operations and moved to other towns for fear of attacks, paralyzing relief operations.

"It's a total disaster, almost half of Mandera town residents, about 40,000 people, have moved from the border," Dualle told Rooters.

"The fear is real, a number of houses have been damaged, at least 20 people have been injured, one Kenyan killed, all schools, banks and government offices have been closed."

Link

Africa North

Kenyan 'Dogs of War' fighting for Gaddafi

2011-02-26

[The Nation (Nairobi)] Kenyan mercenaries are among foreign soldiers helping the besieged Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy fight off an uprising.

This was confirmed on Thursday by Col Qadaffy's former Chief of Protocol Nouri Al Misrahi in an interview with the Al Jizz broadcasting network.

Mr Misrahi was detailing how Qadaffy had resorted to using mercenaries against his own people after losing control of the Libyan armed forces.

When asked where the mercenaries came from and how they were recruited, the first country he mentioned was Kenya. Other countries he listed are Chad, Niger and Mali.

He described the mercenaries as jobless ex-soldiers and officers who were enticed to Libya by money.

He clarified that they were not sent officially by their governments, but were privateers recruited directly by the regime and they were being used to hunt and kill Libyan dissidents after Qadaffy's armed police and soldiers abandoned him and "went with the people".

He said Qadaffy has no more trust in his own armed forces because they had largely defied orders to turn their guns on the demonstrators.

"Those mercenaries are being used against Libyans, because Qadaffy has no more trust in his police and soldiers, they let him down and went to the people".

The mercenaries from African countries, he said, were poor and homeless former soldiers who were easily recruited over the years.

The former bigwig in Libya spoke as the government in Nairobi denied that Kenyan mercenaries were being used to execute Qadaffy's brutal crackdown.

However,
The infamous However...
there was an admission that retired police and army officers could be in Libya working for private companies. (Read: MP cites his worries over Kenyan 'dogs of war')

The story of Kenyan mercenaries was lent further credence by a Libyan military defector quoted in the UK newspaper -- The Guardian -- listing Kenya as one of the recruitment grounds for thousands of African mercenaries propping up the regime.

Air Force Major Rajib Feytouni said he had personally witnessed 4,000 to 5,000 mercenaries flown into his air force base on Libyan military transport planes since 14 February-- several days before the uprising started.

"They (the planes) had 300 men at a time, all of them coming out with weapons. They were all from Africa: Ghanaians, Kenyans," he is quoted in the Guardian.

The mercenaries are being used by Col Qadaffy to violently break down the wave of protests that is spreading across the North African country.

"That is why we turned against the government. That and the fact that there was an order to use planes to attack the people," said Major Feytouni in the second largest city of Benghazi which has fallen in the hands of rebels. (Read: Inside Libya's first free city)

Acting Foreign Affairs minister George Saitoti also denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!
when he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Defence yesterday.

In Parliament, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka dismissed the involvement of Kenyan mercenaries in the violent Libyan crackdown on protesters.

"The only individuals in Libya are embassy staff and students who are not involved militarily," he said.

Government front man Alfred Mutua also denied knowledge of any Kenyan mercenaries fighting on the side of Col Qadaffy.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Kenya calls US 'swamp of graft' cable 'malicious'

2010-11-30

Kenya's government spokesman said Tuesday that a U.S. characterization of the country as a "swamp" of corruption in reports of leaked diplomatic memos is "malicious" if true.

Alfred Mutua also said that the top U.S. diplomat for Africa called Kenya's prime minister on Monday to apologize for the leaked memos.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Haynes said senior State Department officials have called senior Kenyan government officials to inform them and to discuss their concerns. He did not elaborate.

The Obama administration has undertaken a worldwide effort to contain damage done by the release of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables by the online clearinghouse WikiLeaks.

The lead headline in Kenya's Daily Nation on Tuesday read: "U.S. envoys see Kenya as a 'swamp' of graft." The Daily Nation relied on a report from the German magazine Der Spiegel, which said Kenya is depicted as "a swamp of flourishing corruption" in one of the as-yet unreleased cables.

Mutua said that if the reports are true, "then it is totally malicious and a total misrepresentation of our country and our leaders. We are surprised and shocked by these revelations."

He said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnny Carson called Prime Minister Raila Odinga to offer an apology.

Link

Africa Horn

US Navy watches as Somali pirates nab $3.2 million

2009-02-06

NAIROBI, Kenya -- As U.S. Navy ships looked on, Somali pirates sped away Thursday with $3.2 million in ransom after releasing an arms-laden Ukrainian freighter -- ending a four-month standoff that focused world attention on piracy off Somalia's lawless coast.

The Navy said it couldn't seize the bandits for fear of endangering 147 other seamen still held hostage on other hijacked ships.
Great. So now the pirates are going to start playing leapfrog?
So, within sight of two nearby U.S. warships, the pirates counted the cash -- air-dropped by parachute -- then took off in motorboats, pirate Aden Abdi Omar said, speaking to The Associated Press by satellite phone after arriving in the central Somali town of Harardhere.

"We are not holding it (the ship) anymore," said Omar, adding that more than two dozen pirates made their escape aboard motorized skiffs, navigating the choppy waters in small groups. The $3.2 million booty -- among the largest-ever reported ransoms -- would be divvied up among the pirates, he said.

The seizure of the MV Faina, loaded with Soviet-era tanks and other heavy weapons, was one of the most brazen in a surge of pirate attacks on shipping off the Somali coast. Vessels from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet quickly surrounded the cargo ship after it was seized Sept. 25, to make sure the arms on board did not get into the hands of Somali insurgents believed to have links to al-Qaida.

The hijacking brought an unprecedented naval response. Warships from countries including the U.S., India, Britain, France, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea have joined the anti-piracy campaign, though attacks continue. Turkey's government announced plans Thursday to send naval ships for the campaign.

On Thursday, U.S. seamen inspected the pirates' boats to ensure they weren't carrying any of the freighter's weapons cargo.

But the Navy did not take action against the pirates because they still hold many hostages from other ships, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. "Even when you release Faina, there are still 147 mariners held hostage," Campbell told the AP. "We're concerned for their well-being."

Ships from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet closely monitored the Faina and its 20 surviving crew throughout the standoff after the captain died of a heart attack, and the U.S. sent medical workers to the ship Thursday once the pirates left.

"We are extremely pleased" at the release, said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. "The United States Navy and our coalition partners will continue to fight piracy, and work with the international community to find a long-term, shore-based solution to this maritime crime."

Late Thursday, MV Faina's captain Viktor Nikolsky said his ship was under the protection of the Navy and would head to Mombasa, Kenya.

Negotiations for the release of the ship and its crew dragged on for months because of the interference of unidentified "third parties," according to a statement by the ship owner, Vadim Alperin, posted on his spokesman's Web site. No explanation was given.

Piracy is big business off the coast of war-ravaged Somalia, which has not had a functioning government for 18 years. Pirates made off with up to $80 million in ransom in the past year, seizing 42 vessels off the country's 1,900-mile coastline along the Horn of Africa. But no hijacking attracted as much attention as the Faina and its weapons cargo, which was a wake-up call about the danger piracy poses to one of the world's most important trade routes.

"It showed Somali piracy no longer affected just small coastal vessels but important and dangerous cargos," said London-based analyst Roger Middleton.

In November, pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker filled with crude oil that was released in January. And last week they took the MV Longchamp, a German tanker filled with explosive gas.

Intelligence agents had feared the weapons onboard the Ukrainian ship -- which include 33 Soviet-designed tanks and crates of small arms -- could fall into the hands of Somali insurgents the State Department says have links to al-Qaida. Diplomats in the region previously have said the cargo was destined for southern Sudan, something the autonomous region has denied. Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua repeated his country's claim to the cargo Thursday.

The high ransom payments mean pirates are unlikely to stop attacking.

Still, Middleton said the international anti-piracy campaign has reduced the success rate of attacks to about 20 percent. Last year, pirates took 42 of the 111 ships they attacked.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service Ltd., said the drop was due to the coalition activity and unseasonably bad weather. Most of the 16 attempted hijackings in 2009 occurred in the first two weeks of January, when the weather was good. Three of those ships were captured.

But pirates are showing a worrying new sophistication in their attacks, several experts told the AP, including greater use of global positioning systems that allow them to extend their range. Identification systems designed to stop ships from colliding can also lead pirates to potential prey because of the radio signals they put out. The pirates may be trying to buy magnetic mines and heat-seeking missiles that can be fired from the sea, according to a recent report in Jane's Intelligence Review. Brooks said pirates also were jamming emergency frequencies with Arabic music or sending out false distress calls to lure warships in the wrong direction.

He warned that pirates have begun to mount diversionary assaults or attacks on several vessels at the same time. "We've gone from a pattern of sporadic attacks to a situation where the pirates coordinate," he said.

In one incident last week, pirates simultaneously attacked three ships. Coalition forces were able to save two, but the third -- the Longchamp -- was captured.

Vice Admiral Gerard Valin, the commander of a French naval task force, said five pirate gangs operate from Somalia, each with about 200 to 500 members.

The coalition does not issue exact figures for security reasons, but Middleton said there are between 20 and 30 warships off the Somali coast. Even with all the extra firepower, it was hard to prevent attacks, due to the vast waters and the pirates' increasing ingenuity, Valin said.

"I will not say congratulations," he said. "We have to respect the adversary."
Kill them all the instant they step off the boat unless they surrender peacefully.

Link

Africa Horn

Crew member of hijacked Ukrainian ship dies

2008-09-30

A crew member aboard a hijacked Ukrainian ship has died, as Somalia pirates who seized the vessel transporting weapons to Kenya said the vessel has been surrounded by three foreign warships.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East Africa Seafarers' Association, said the crew member died of natural causes but confirmed that the remaining 20 others are safe. "One of the crew members died on Sunday. We confirmed that he was sick but the remaining crew are safe," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone on Monday.

Somali news portals quoted Abdi Salan Khalif, commissioner of the coastal town of Harardhere, Somalia, as saying the pirates told town elders the man died of problems relating to high blood pressure.

Khalif said the pirates, who were communicating with the elders and the U.S. Navy by radio, reported they were holding the crew in a hot part of the ship.

Mwangura said the weapons in the Belize-flagged MV Faina vessel carrying an authorized Ukrainian government arms shipment appear to belong to south Sudan, which is barred from arms sales under a 2005 U.N.-brokered peace deal. "One of the cargo arrived at the port of Mombasa in October last year, two in February this year. The seized load of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and some ammunition was the fourth cargo with military equipment for southern Sudan," Mwangura said.

But the Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said pirates are spreading what he called "alarming propaganda" that the seized weapons do not belong to Kenya's armed forces. "There have been alarming propaganda by the pirates to media that the weapons are not for the Kenyan military. This, is a tactic by the terrorists to try and fend off reprisals against them," said Mutua.

"The Kenyan government will not engage in answering back to terrorists who have hijacked important military equipment paid for by the Kenyan tax payer for use by the Kenyan Military," he added.

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Africa Horn

Russian Warship w/SPETSNAZ Headed To Intercept Ukrainian Ship w/Tanks & Pirates

2008-09-26

A Russian warship on Friday rushed to intercept a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 battle tanks and a hoard of ammunition that was seized by pirates off the Horn of Africa a bold hijacking that again heightened fears about surging piracy and high-seas terrorism.

U.S. naval ships were in the area and "monitoring the situation" and a U.S. Defense Department official said Washington was concerned about the attack.

"I think we're looking at the full range of options here," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

It was unclear whether the pirates who seized the 530-foot-long cargo ship Faina on Thursday knew what it carried. Still, analysts said it would be extremely difficult to sell such high-profile weaponry like Russian tanks.

The hijacking, with worldwide pirate attacks surging this year, could help rally stronger international support behind France, which has pushed aggressively for decisive action against Somali pirates.

Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that the missile frigate Neustrashimy left the Baltic Sea port of Baltiisk a day before the hijacking to cooperate with other unspecified countries in anti-piracy efforts.

But he said the ship was then ordered directly to the Somalia coast after Thursday's attack.

According to the British-based Jane's Information Group, the Neustrashimy is armed with surface-to-air missiles, 100 mm guns and anti-submarine torpedoes.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Yury Yekhanurov, meanwhile, said the hijacked vessel Faina was carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. He said the tanks were sold to Kenya in accordance with international law.

Ukrainian officials and an anti-piracy watchdog said 21 crew members were aboard the seized ship, including three Russians. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko ordered unspecified measures to free the crew, but it was unclear whether any of the former Soviet republic's naval vessels had been dispatched.

A Kenyan government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, confirmed the East African nation's military had ordered the tanks and spare parts. The tanks are part of a two-year rearmament program.

"The government is in contact with international maritime agencies and other security partners in an endeavor to secure the ship and cargo," Mutua said in a statement. "The government is actively monitoring the situation."

A person who answered the telephone at Ukrainian state-controlled arms dealer Ukrspetsexport, which brokered the sale, refused to comment, and said all requests for information must be submitted in writing.

It was unclear where the shipment originated, though Ukrainian news agencies identified the ship operator as a company called Tomex Team based in the Black Sea port of Odessa. Calls to Tomex offices went unanswered Friday.

Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet, told the AP that U.S. vessels were aware of the seizure and said U.S. ships were "monitoring the situation," but refused to say more: "Obviously, we are deeply concerned."

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the United States was worried about the ship's cargo.

"A ship carrying cargo of that nature being hijacked off the coast of Somalia is something that should concern us, and it does concern us. And we are monitoring the situation and taking a look at what the options might be," Whitman said.

Paul Cornish, head of the international security program at the London-based think-tank Chatham House said the tanks would be difficult to sell on to a third party private buyers or warlords, for example because of the logistics involved with keeping them operational.

"It's not like (stealing) a container full of machine guns, where all you need is a tin of bicycle oil," he said.

Roger Middleton, another Chatham House researcher, said it was unlikely the pirates knew there were tanks aboard the Faina, and also said unloading the cargo would be difficult.

"Most of their attacks are based on opportunity. So if they see something that looks attackable and looks captureable, they'll attack it," he said.

Middleton said it was unclear how the pirates might react if confronted by military action, noting that they have fled from authorities in the past. On the other hand, he said, they are usually well-armed and organized and are based in an unstable country Somalia.

"It could potentially get pretty messy," he said.

Long a hazard for maritime shippers particularly in the Indian Ocean and its peripheries high-seas piracy has triggered greater alarm since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States because of its potential as a funding and supply source for global terrorism.

Pirate attacks worldwide have surged this year and Africa remains the world's top piracy hotspot, with 24 reported attacks in Somalia and 18 in Nigeria this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center.

The issue burst into international view Sept. 15 when Somali pirates took two French citizens captive aboard a luxury yacht and helicopter-borne French commandos then swooped in to rescue them.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy this month called on other nations to move boldly against pirates, calling the phenomenon "a genuine industry of crime."

In June, the U.N. Security Council pushed by France and the United States unanimously adopted a resolution allowing ships of foreign nations that cooperate with the Somali government to enter their territorial waters "for the purpose of repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea."

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Africa Subsaharan

Kenyan murderous gang resurrected: activist

2008-01-09

KENYA'S embattled government has activated a murderous criminal gang to protect its supporters during a bloody confrontation over disputed elections, a leading human rights activist has claimed.

National Commission on Human Rights head Maina Kiai said the Mungiki, an ethnic Kikuyu gang notorious for beheading its victims, had returned.

"They are coming out again and being used by the state. We have firm evidence of that, some of their people came to us," he said.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua angrily denied the claim. "If there is evidence of Mungiki, he should either table it - and he had better make sure that it is the right evidence - or just shut up," he said.

There have been unconfirmed reports of Mungiki attacks on other ethnic groups in Nairobi's slums since violence erupted after the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in a December 27 poll. About 600 people have died.

Many Kikuyus were killed in the Rift Valley and Nairobi's slums as other ethnic groups vented their rage over what they say was a rigged result.

Experts have long said the Mungiki were manipulated by Kikuyu politicians. They were first established to counter violence by Kalenjin ethnic gangs during elections in the 1990s, when Daniel arap Moi, himself a Kalenjin, was president.

But last year the human rights commission said police may have executed as many as 500 men during a crackdown on the Mungiki after the gang terrorised central Kenya with a wave of brutal attacks. Police denied the charge.

Mr Kiai said the government had offered the Mungiki protection in the future if they protected Kikuyus against supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he won the vote.

"They are now assured of security even afterwards. They said 'Okay we will not touch you again. We will not go for you as we did before'," he said.

Mr Kiai called on Western powers to revoke visas for members of the Kibaki government, senior members of the civil service and their families as well as opposition figures.

He said this was the only way to push politicians into negotiating an end to Kenya's post-election crisis.

"Bring them back to suffer with us. Maybe then they will be forced into talking to each other," he said.

"If all visas are revoked you will see movement so fast, you won't believe it. Many of them think 'I have a valid visa to the UK. If things get really bad I am off.' They need to have the same stakes as us."

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