|
A Carrier Group To Attack Somalia
The U.S. supported Ethiopian army has finally retreated from Somalia and the Al-Shabab group has taken the city of Baidoa, the seat of the U.S. installed provisional war-lord government.
Meanwhile a lot of military ships are cruising the Somali coast to prevent the Somali coast guard/pirates from taking cargo ships for ransom. Even the Japanese are joining the party.
Economically this does not make any sense. With more of 20,000 ships passing the Gulf of Aden each year, a few captured ships will slightly increase the insurance premium for passing the area. But that hardly justifies to have over 20 expensive navy ships with thousands of sailors protecting it. There were 293 acts of piracy worldwide last year. Only 111 of them took place at the Somali coast. Yes, the area is important for world trade, but others with even more pirate action are too without getting this much attention.
Is this just a show of force by everyone to impress competing nations? Maybe.
The U.S. has so far not taken any real action in the area. But that may well change. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is on its way to the area and it carries a very unusual number of helicopters.
The new wing configuration has two full squadrons for a total of about 19 aircraft, with their leadership aboard, all under the carrier air wing and strike group commander. These helicopters are heavily armed and will take over missions such as anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and supporting SEALs or other special operations troops.
I doubt that a carrier with so many helicopters is the best platform to fight piracy. A few smaller ships with one or two helos each could cover a much bigger area. But a carrier strike group may well be an asset for land attacks on targets in Somalia.
Steve Clemons muses about such an endeavor:
In the period between President Obama's November 2008 victory at the polls and his taking office on January 20, 2009, members of Obama's transition team began talking to military planners about various options that might be available for dealing with Somali pirates.
…
But the source recounted to me that those asking for the development of these option plans seemed more focused on whether a low-cost, low loss-of-American lives action could be quickly taken in a strike against pirates because of the need to demonstrate that Americans could still strike hard and achieve their military and political objectives.
The source worried that in my source's opinion, there was perhaps not
enough consideration of what it might be like to potentially open yet a
third active military front in that region.
military front."Kill some people to show the world Obama has balls? Sure, but patrolling against pirates is not an "active military front." Special operations on ground targets would constitute one.
So I expect the fighting piracy theme will now be used as a fig leaf to justify attacks on Al-Shabab and other groups that might take power in Somalia against the wishes of Washington DC.
For lack of intelligence such attacks by the U.S. will fail to hit these groups but kill a lot of innocent people. Nothing new here. Just another "crappy little country" again throw against the wall.
some excerpts from thursday’s blogger roundtable w/ rear admiral terry mcknight, commander of task force 151
…the goal of all of us out here is free commerce. And no matter what our navies do, we have to make sure that we have free commerce throughout the open seas and throughout the world
on the problem w/ distinguishing who might be a pirate
Q: And they use small skiffs to sail in that many — miles out into the ocean?
ADM. MCKNIGHT: Unbelievable, yes. We see them out here all the time. And they’re not only the pirate craft, but they’re fishermen. I mean, these things are not much bigger than, I would say, you know, seven, eight nine, at the most 11 meters, you know. So they’re out here.
And the one problem that we found out is, the first corridor that we set up put us right through a lot of the Yemeni fishing zones, so starting on the 1st of February, we’re going to bring it down a little bit to get it out of the zone, so hope we can — you know, deconfliction between the pirates and the fishermen.
more like between pirate hunters and the fishermen, a number of which have been killed and wounded so far this year
a question from david axe
we’ve been hearing that the CTF-151 is going to have more aggressive rules of engagement than — well, than CTF-150 did. Can you talk about that some?
ADM. MCKNIGHT: Right now we’re looking at the — what we call a phase two operation — (audio break) — after the pirates and take them, you know, basically like a — round them up like a police force would, and basically take them to a country. And it was announced on the 16th of January that Kenya has agreed to take the pirates if we capture them. Now the lawyers are at work for the particulars, and as soon as we (can?) get those mechanisms in place, then we will shift our operation to go — to possibly go after some of the pirates and take them to Kenya. And they will be of course prosecuted in the Kenyan courts.
on the perceived mandate and the limited activity
Can you tell me your mission objective? I mean, Somalia is such a complex place. We all know Somalia — or piracy can only be solved on land. What is it that 151 is — what is our objective with 151? Is it simply to allow the free flow of commerce, I mean, very generically, a sea mission? Can you kind of summarize this, as far as a mission statement, where we know we can point to something and say that’s tangible success, this is working?
ADM. MCKNIGHT: Well, first of all, I mean, like I said earlier, you know, there’s the — (audio break) — of our navies to make sure we have free flow of commerce — (audio break). For that, I mean, that — we have to be out here to secure that. To deter — and the other thing is to basically deter piracy. I have had several conversations with people — (audio break) — working in the maritime community and also about this, that they know — (audio break) — know that we’re out here. They know that we’re out here and that means we’re going to deter piracy. Since December 1st we have seen very little pirate activity out here. And the European Union’s been out here. We’ve been out here. So I would say, if I had to — (audio break) — it’s to deter piracy and allow the free flow of commerce throughout the Gulf of Aden region.
Q: So there’s nothing as far as Somalia itself is concerned. This is just specific to guarding — essentially guarding the access to the seas.
ADM. MCKNIGHT: That’s correct. I have nothing — (audio break) — go after, you know, land targets or anything like that. That’s, you know, a lot — I mean, people would say — and you’re right that to solve it, you’ve got to fix it in Somalia. But — (audio break) — you know, it’s a failed state. People are — there’s actually mention of, you know, at least let them establish, you know, a coast guard- type — you know, that they could just patrol their own coast. But — (audio break) — is basically — (audio break) — runs right now vice a(n) organized government.
later on
Like I said, since the first — (audio break) — there has not been a successful pirated event. There’s been several attempts, but there — so we’ve gone almost two months without a successful ship being pirated. So whether that’s the weather or our forces out here, it’s — we would have to wait and see. But I think we’ve had an effect, because, like I said — like, I’ve talked to people in the intelligence — (audio break) — that the pirates know we’re out here, so they’re going to try their best to avoid us.
…
And let me just clarify one thing here. I don’t think we’ll ever stop pirates. We will do our best to bring the numbers down. When you think of the number of ships that pass through here a year, between 23(,000) and 25,000 vessels — and the chances of getting pirated here are pretty slim. But we think that we’ve had a pretty good success rate in the last couple months.
Posted by: b real | Jan 29 2009 23:50 utc | 25
Islamists oppose Sharif’s new government
KISMAYU (Sh. M. Network)-The Islamists in the port town of Kismayu, 500 kilometers south of the Somali capital Mogadishu opposed the new Somalia president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, officials told Shabelle Radio on Sunday.
Abdiqani Mohamed Yusuf, a deputy chairman of the Islamic administration in Kismayu in Lower Jubba region and Sheik Hassan Yacqub, secretary information of al-Shabaab in Kismayu denounced the presidential election in Djibouti in a press conference held in the town.
…
“Sheik sharif used to declare Jihad (holy war) against the enemy, but now he joined to the federal government. Nothing has changed yet so we will not welcome it and the Jihad will continue,” Mr. Abdiqani said.
Sharif’s government is not different from the one which was established in Nairobi in 2004, he added.
“It is clear that the world has ignored and failed Somali political affairs because the international community often set up government which does not have the support of the Somali people and that is not the goals of the Somali people, it is only waste of time,” Sheik Hassan Yacqub said.
and in addition to sharif’s rejection by factions in the insurgency, as the garowe online article in an earlier comment made clear, the republics of somaliland and puntland also refuse to acknowledge neither the selection of a president of somalia nor the formation of a so-called unity govt
in accordance w/ the u.s. plans for somalia, from the txt of ambassador ranneberger’s press release to commend sharif for his “victory”
We encourage all Somalis to support the President and his government and urge members of the Somali leadership to concentrate on security and good governance in this transitional period. The United States looks forward to cooperating with President Sharif and his broad-based government on these efforts to establish democracy and achieve peace in Somalia.
establishing democracy and not sharia, for that is the role of the ‘good’ muslim from the u.s. perspective. ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ here strictly refers to the willingness to express political islam in line w/ u.s. interests & values. sharif has watered down his earlier calls for sharia now that he has been promised & given power by washington & addis ababa. somalis even comment on how his wardrobe has changed since the u.s. ‘rescued’ him from kenya following the routing of the ICU in early 2007. how he sleeps in the best hotels & eats at the finest restaurants. how he now acts as a spokesperson for the occupiers. and continues to lie to those he once inspired.
for instance,
New Somali president sees positive U.S. role
CAIRO, Feb 1 (Reuters) – The newly elected president of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, said in an interview published on Sunday that he saw the United States as a positive influence for peace in his country.
…
“One can say that the U.S. position towards Somalia has become honest… We think that the American view of Somalia is now positive,” Ahmed told the Egyptian newspaper el-Shorouk.
“In the framework of the Djibouti negotiations, America has become a force which supports peace,” he added.
that’s quite a stretch & perhaps the only one naive enough to believe it is sharif himself.
on democracy, here’s what al-shabaab spokesperson mukhtaar roobow abuu mansuur told al jazeera in an video interview several weeks back (from part three here — the entire interview is both informative & revealing, despite the spin at the top of the segment)
You’re talking about the establishment of a sharia state in Somalia, but what if the Somali people say they want a democratic system of governance? What will be your response to them?
They will not say that. The people have experienced democracy. They tasted democratic governance in the 60’s. We had a communist system of governance, and then clan wars and chaos. They had some calm under the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006. They can compare all these governments and systems. They praised the six months of the Islamic Courts Union’s rule. They also praised out current system. Democracy says the will is of the people, while God says the will is his and no one elses. There is no one to be worshipped but him. The Somali people will never ask for democracy. We are not saying that our movement will lead this country, but if we found a person that the community unanimously accepts and is ready to govern the country according to the sharia, then we shall become his soldiers. But our aim is to ensure that there is no king on this earth other than God. If we die pursuing this cause, then we will have died in dignity.
somalis, in general, have tended to be labeled as ‘moderate’ muslims. since the late 1800’s their political paths have been heavily influenced by outsider meddling, yet somalis have never taken up an indigenous radical position of political islam. however, after nearly 20 years of internal chaos w/o any central govt (rendering it near impossible to have any stable infrastructure, social programs, and collective economy) there has been an increasing clamor for the implementation of sharia in the country. the rule of the ICU in 2006 brought stability & security to many regions for the first time in more than a decade. the islamists drove out the warlords & their militias who ruled by fear, extortion & violence. they cracked down on the bandits who looted, raped, and set up illegal roadblocks to support themselves. they stopped the khat trade, curbed piracy, and confiscated arms. somalis could safely go about their daily lives. members of the diaspora spread across the globe began returning home to build up their country, to become entrepenuers, teachers, neighbors, and resume kinship roles.
the intentional destabilization of somalia in late 2006 by ethiopia & washington once again destroyed these hopes. 2006 is now sometimes referred to as ‘the golden age’ of somalia. it was a revolutionary islamic movement, largely from the ground up, and predicated on political islam. it had inspired people. and that’s what scared the west and its client states of ethiopia, kenya & uganda.
some of this radicalization came from exposure to other political islam teachings. from associations with muslims in pakistan & afghanistan that covered a spectrum of contexts from education to ideologies of both lesser and greater jihad.
sheikh sharif was one of the leaders of the ICU at the time of the rise of the courts mvmt. but he’s no longer that same person who once urged all somalis to “wage jihad against the Ethiopians” while clutching his AK-47. he has been bought out & brought over to the other side and is viewed by many in somalia as a traitor, now doing the bidding of uncle sam & the midget meles.
others, both inside and outside the ICU and assorted militias now carry on the struggle to free somalia from outsider interference in their governance and to implement sharia. this encompasses more than just the militias the news media focus on. there is an intellectual mvmt behind this too.
Posted by: b real | Feb 2 2009 6:20 utc | 33
propaganda outfit abc news bags sheikh sharif’s “first interview with American media”
Somalia President Promises ‘Peace and Dignity’
A soft-spoken former schoolteacher is Somalia’s new president, tasked with calming one of the bloodiest, most brutal conflicts on the global map.
…
Sheikh Sharif was elected last month by a parliament in exile; the threat of violence in Somalia is so dire that voting took place in the neighboring country of Djibouti.
…
On piracy, which has surged since he left office, Sheikh Sharif said the Somali navy would patrol the coast while state security forces address the issue on land. Somali pirates are holding seven vessels with 123 crew members hostage, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Sheikh Sharif called on those pirates to release the captive ships and pledged to work with the international community on counter-piracy efforts.
“Fighting piracy is inevitable but cooperating as two states, Somalia and the United States, would be a good solution,” he told ABC News.
the somali navy? there is no somali navy. yet.
One asset the president is cultivating: a warm, working relationship with the Obama administration. Despite America’s role in his ouster, Sheikh Sharif sees U.S. policy as supportive of his efforts toward a stable Somalia. He told an Egyptian newspaper last week that the United States is a “force for peace” in East Africa.
“America has been honest in pushing the peace process ahead, and they encouraged us to get involved in this process,” he told ABC News. “And they have remained steadfast; that’s why we have a new goodwill toward America.”
Congratulating Sheikh Sharif on his appointment, the U.S. government commended him on working “diligently on reconciliation efforts in Somalia.” In a press statement, the Obama administration said it looked “forward to cooperating with President Sharif and his broad-based government on these efforts to establish democracy and achieve peace in Somalia.”
“one asset the president is cultivating”.. heh. nice spin. actually, sharif as president is the asset the u.s. is cultivating.
on these reported negotiations between sharif & robow
“I went back to Somalia to consult with them and to woo those who have, until now, been against peace to come into the fold,” the president said. “I haven’t directly met with Shabaab, but I have sent some people, emissaries, to talk to them, to stop the bloodshed and to put down their arms.”
Abu Massor [sic], who refers to himself [sic] as the spokesman for Al Shabaab, told ABC News through a translator that nearly all the leadership has agreed to accept the new president if he meets the group’s conditions. The three most important of those conditions are that the country be ruled under traditional Shariah; that foreign forces, including the African Union and the U.N. peacekeeping troops, not be allowed on Somali soil; and that Al Shabaab members have significant roles in the new government.
“If he recognizes our presence on the ground, and he is going to accept Shariah law to be applied in the country, we are going to accept him,” Massor said.
The president has not said whether he will meet Al Shabaab’s demands, which could complicate his desire for better relations with the United States.
But forming a government that includes individuals who refuse to renounce their allegiance to al Qaeda and other extremist groups will not be acceptable to either Ethiopia or the United States.
abc doesn’t even know the guy’s name, for pete’s sake. and swearing allegiance to AQ? get out of here w/ that nonsense. more al shabaab booga-booga, and entirely skipping the fact that other groups have already come forth and declared war against the so-called unity govt while al shabaab, as a whole, has not
but there’s sharif acknowledging that he didn’t personally meet w/ robow, which proves the waagacusub media stories to be manipulative, as i speculated initially. and robow makes clear that the meetings that did take place were strictly negotiations to put forth the terms for working w/ sharif, rather than any type of attempt to leave al shabaab to join sharif’s forces
Posted by: b real | Feb 12 2009 7:21 utc | 62
in #70 i mentioned the story of the u.s. navy turning over several detained pirate suspects to puntland rather than kenya after having inked a deal w/ the latter to take & try suspects before a court of law. according to stories earlier this week they were released to puntland b/c the u.s. navy did not have any good evidence to continue to hold them. so after more than two weeks detention aboard the lewis & clark (from feb 12), they were released. the stories at the same time in the puntland media did not provide this context & stated that the suspects would be held & tried there. i am assuming that both sets of stories are referring to the same group of somalis released by the navy since i have not seen evidence of multiple releases to puntland.
so the deal w/ kenya is still intact
and others are taking it up too
EU signs pirate deal with Kenya, German navy holding 9 men (roundup)
Berlin – The European Union signed an agreement with Kenya on Friday, providing for the handover of pirates seized off the coast of Somalia, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
The agreement was signed in Nairobi by Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula and the Czech ambassador to Kenya, the spokesman said. The Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
The spokesman, Jens Ploetner, said no decision had been made whether nine pirates captured Tuesday by the German Navy would be transferred to Kenya.
Independent prosecutors in Hamburg first need to decide whether the men should face trial in Germany.
The pirates are being held on board the German frigate Rheinland Pfalz, which apprehended them on Tuesday when they attacked a German merchant vessel off Somalia with anti-tank missiles and firearms.
The frigate forms part of the EU’s anti-pirate mission Atalanta, operating in the Gulf of Aden.
A specially convened commission, representing Germany’s Interior, Foreign, Defence and Justice ministries, met this week to discuss the legal status of the pirates.
The German navy has handed over all its evidence to the Hamburg- based prosecutors, a spokesman said. They now need to decide whether German interests were at stake during the attack.
If this were the case the pirates could be brought to Germany to face trial.
Since the MV Courier, owned by a Bremen-based shipping company, had been sailing under an Antiguan flag, with a non-German crew, this is considered an unlikely outcome.
For this reason the deal with Kenya was crucial, as it has cleared the way for the nine men to be handed over to face prosecution there.
the legal grounds for trying somalis in other countries is, as brought up previously, contentious & controversial. and as the second link in #74 points out, these deals w/ kenya will continue to reinforce its negative image among other african nations as a primary gateway for external actors to interfere w/ african sovereignty.
relatedly,
Renditions, American-style: how Kenya joined the War on Terror
Kenya’s government illegally detained and rendered 150 citizens in a US-influenced ‘counterterrorism’ operation, a report reveals today.
The report, compiled by REDRESS and Reprieve, reveals the devastating effect of US policies on human rights in Africa, as Kenyan officials aped and obeyed their powerful ally in jettisoning hard-won legal rights in the region.
The 150 people, of 21 nationalities and including children, were seized near the Kenyan border over three months from December 2006. Many were fleeing to Kenya from the conflict in Somalia. Held beyond the rule of law, some were tortured and subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, while up to 120 were ‘rendered’ to Somalia and Ethiopia outside of any legal process.
One Kenyan citizen, Abdulmalik, was handed to US forces and rendered to a US secret prison in Djibouti, Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, and an unidentified secret prison in Kabul. Abdulmalik finally ended up in Guantanamo Bay, where he has been held for two years without charge and without being shown any evidence against him.
This incident demonstrates the pernicious effect of US counterterrorism policies worldwide, and the urgent need for the Obama administration to publicly renounce the illegal practice of extraordinary renditions.
the full 67-page report, kenya and counter-terrorism: a time for change , is available for download at the link
an excerpt:
As a result of the attacks against US interests in Kenya and its geographical proximity to Somalia, the US has identified Kenya as a key strategic ally in its “war on terror” and has provided Kenya with substantial funding in this regard. Kenya receives a range of assistance from the US to pursue its counterterrorism strategies, including: “military training for border and coastal security, a variety of programs to strengthen control of the movement of people and goods across borders, aviation security capacity-building, assistance for regional efforts against terrorist financing, and police training. [The East African Counterterrorism Initiative] EACTI also includes an education program to counter extremist influence and a robust outreach program.” According to the Kenyan media, the US “has increased its military aid to Kenya by nearly 800 per cent since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.”
In 2006, for example, the US Ambassador to Kenya announced the donation of six boats to the Kenyan Navy, estimated at $3 million USD to “help the Government of Kenya combat insecurity and terrorism. This is timely in view of heightened concerns by Kenya about potential exploitation of the Kenyan coast by criminal groups and terrorists. The donation of the boats is part of a much broader effort to help the Government of Kenya protect its borders. This is particularly important in view of the deteriorating situation within Somalia.” In May 2007, the US and Kenya announced $14 million USD of “new funding to Kenya’s security forces aimed at countering “terrorist activities” in the Horn of Africa.” The assistance was described as including:
• Training and equipment of various Kenyan law enforcement and security programs, $5.5 million
• Training and equipping of four coastal security patrol units, $1.5 million
• Construction of Coastal Maritime Training Facility on Camp Manda, $3 million
• Through Port Security Initiative, provide training on security management and planning at Mombasa, $450,000
• Grant of two boats with equipment for Mombasa Port, $260,000
• Provision of secure IT network and case management project for [the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit] ATPU, $2.08 million (over two years)
• Support of cyber forensics lab and cyber crime training, $1.24 million (over two years)
• Border Control Management course to enhance operational planning skills, $200,000.194
Despite the US’ central role in the development and implementation of counterterrorism measures in Kenya, it is not clear how proactively the US requires such measures to be taken in full compliance with Kenya’s international human rights obligations. To the contrary, the US’ approach to counter-terrorism under the Bush administration has been regularly condemned for its failure to accord with basic human rights standards.
Posted by: b real | Mar 6 2009 16:29 utc | 82
two notable extracts from ecoterra international‘s somali marine & coastal monitor (SMCM) update from feb 12th
MV FAINA, the ill-fated weapons transporter owned by the Israeli-Ukrainian Vadim Alperin, one week after her release finally reached Mombassa harbour in Kenya under US naval guard, which usually would only be a 2-3 days trip away from her place of release near Hobyo in Somalia. The public does not really believe that the voyage had to take so long due to engine problems but think that the time-delay was required to spin numerous stories as well as to allow for preparations to stage a public welcome in Kenya derailing the public attention from the crucial questions of the 134 day long hostage saga as well as the true destination of the weapons comprising of 33 ex-Sowjet T-72 battle tanks with 125mm ammunition reportedly of the 3BM-32 type, which contains a penetrator made from depleted uranium. Neither the World Health Organization or UNEP nor IAEA, the three organizations tasked with surveillance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to which Kenya is a signatory, showed up to inspect the ammunition. Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudswoman and member of Parliament, who arrived with a special flight from Ukraine in Mombassa is gathering detailed information concerning the saga, which is subjected to investigations by parliamentary committees in Kenya and Ukraine as well as in the flag-state of the vessel Belize.
and
You wonder why every fish poacher on earth tries to get his hands on Tuna from Somalia? Why they risk being arrested or even face death? The answer is very clear: The low-mercury tuna fish from the waters of the South-Western Indian Ocean and especially from Somali waters is a high priced though not high enough priced commodity in rich countries ranging from the Middle East through Europe and North America to top buyer Japan, where the mercury levels in their own fish-stock are so high that the local catch actually should be handled as toxic substance.
from the feb 17th update
A Russian daily claims Somali pirates hijacked Israeli-owned Ukrainian vessel MV FAINA after a tip-off about its destination and cargo. A Georgian cell operator directed the call from the port city of Odessa, Kommersant quoted Ukrainian security sources as saying. Pirates captured the arms-laden MV FAINA along with its 21 crewmembers in the Indian Ocean on September 25, 2008, sparking international concern over the possible sales of its sophisticated military cargo. The ship was released after 20 weeks on February 5, when pirates received a $3.2 million ransom. MV FAINA’s Israeli owner Vadim Alperin was accused of delaying the release by refusing to directly negotiate with pirates. The seizure by Somali pirates of the MV FAINA vessel carrying tanks and other military equipment was not a special operation instigated by Ukraine’s competitors on the weapons market, said Mykola Malomuzh, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service. Meanwhile the MV FAINA cargo has been fully loaded on rail wagons in Mombassa – ready for onward transfer to the Kahawa Barracks in Nairobi, KBC reports. Sources say the cargo is awaiting an official flag off to start the trip anytime later Tuesday or early Wednesday. The consignment aboard the Ukrainian ship included 33 T-72 battle tanks (MBT), several ZPU-4 quad-barreled 14.5 mm towed anti-aircraft guns mounted on four-wheel carriages, rocket propelled grenades, an armored truck and spare parts as well as a huge amount of ammunition. Military officials, led by Colonel George Kabugi, Deputy Commander of the Kenya Army Armored Brigade, told journalists that they were happy to receive the cargo. When the vessel arrived in Kenya, Defence Assistant Minister David Musila said the equipment would be transported to Kahawa Garrison and then to Isiolo and Lanet Army barracks.
The exercise was interrupted several times – as KBC puts it due to tidal waves on the ocean and other logistic hiccups. Media outlets also raised questions over the real destination of the cargo, citing sources in Somalia who claimed the shipment was purchased by Kenya to arm Sudanese rebels in the Darfur region. The Kenyan government has denied the allegations. Jane’s Information Group, who publishes Jane’s Defence Weekly, stated, however, that though Kenya has repeatedly issued claims to be the end user of the weapons, Jane’s sources state that this consignment is, in fact, the third and final batch of MBTs and heavy weapons ordered for use in southern Sudan. …
The sources of Kommersant-Ukraina newspaper state that MV FAINA´s owner Vadim Alperin allocated only a half of money out of now allegedly spent US $4 million. The rest of fundraising was reportedly guided by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko. Unknown businessmen from Ukraine appropriated the rest of funds. The editor-in-chief of the Maritime Bulletin-Sovfracht Mikhail Voitenko, who was taking part in the negotiations with the pirates, confirmed the data. According to him, Alperin assigned even less than a half of funds that were sent to the pirates. “MV FAINA would be remaining in the captivity of the pirates for a long time without assistance of Ukraine´s authorities”, Mikhail Voitenko said. He also confirmed the data whereby a great amount of funds (US $800,000) were spent for “other charges”. “For example, delivery of food and water was necessary for the sailors at the ship. By the way, Ukraine paid the British who were serving like negotiators till January” [after which the real negotiations started]. Governmental internal oversight however is urged by observers to scrutinize the ransom paid and the bill of “other charges”, since earlier reports claimed that only 19,000 USD were paid to the vessel for food, fuel and water.
In a further scandal surrounding the MV FAINA it was revealed that the information about possible compensation worth 1,3 million grivna (about $180.00) to the sailors of the Ukrainian weapons-ship is wrong. This was declared today by Stepan Havrych, National Security and Defense Council First Deputy Secretary. Seafarers had been expecting the compensation, but “This information is a misuse of materials, prepared in National Security and Defense Council. It has nothing to do with reality. I apologize to the sailors and their relatives”, — said Havrych.
and
While the cargo of MV FAINA has now been offloaded nobody has yet counter-checked on the 812 tonnes of 125 mm battle-tank ammunition said to contain 3BM-32 warheads with penetrators made from depleted uranium (DU). Non of the three international organizations tasked with such duties (WHO, UNEP and IAEA) nor the New York based global arms transparency instrument – the UN Register of Conventional Arms, which even does not cover ammunition transfers – have reacted so far.
In this context it must be known that:
(1) The use of DU weapons goes against established principles of humanitarian law, notably principles of the Geneva Conventions and some UN guidelines relative to:
the protection of civilian populations (See Articles 48 and 51.4 above)
the limitation of unnecessary human suffering (Art.35.2)
the limitation of damage to the environment (Art. 35.3 and 55.1)
Art. 35.2: It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.
Art. 35.3: It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long- term and severe damage to the natural environment.
Art. 55.1: Care shall be taken in warfare to protect the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe damage. This protection includes a prohibition of the use of methods or means of warfare which are intended or may be expected to cause such damage to the natural environment and thereby to prejudice the health or survival of the population.
also
Questions emerged about whether the U.S. Navy can continue to hold a group of suspected pirates captured on the high seas and kept for now in floating jail cells ringed with barbed wire. At issue are nine men, probably Somalis, seized off a small skiff in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday. A Navy ship fired warnings shots and sailors boarded the skiff and arrested the men after a distress call from an Indian-flagged merchant ship. Although defense officials would not be specific, several acknowledged that there may not be enough evidence to hold the men for trial and that some or all might be returned to Somalia. If a case can be brought, it will be among the first under a new arrangement with Kenya to take on prosecution of suspected Somali pirates. Somalia has no effective government or recognized court system, and until now foreign navies have been reluctant to detain suspects because of legal uncertainties over where they would face trial.
“They obviously had some strong suspicions about these individuals and are right now mulling through the evidence they have to determine whether or not they can be prosecuted”, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Friday. “If there is insufficient evidence to do so, they’ll have to make another determination, and that could well be repatriating them”. Morrell said the men would not be allowed to keep weapons including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher seized from their boat. For now the group is being held aboard the Lewis and Clark, a U.S. Navy ship equipped with bare-bones holding cells. Pentagon video footage showed thin black pallets and pillows spread on the floor and surrounded by coils of barbed wire. The nine suspected pirates are the second of two groups seized by the U.S. Navy this week off the coast of Somalia. Defense officials said there are not the same concerns about the strength of evidence against the first group seized by the United States. Those seven suspected pirates were detained Wednesday after they allegedly tried to board a merchant ship flagged in the Marshall Islands. The Pentagon said there is no deadline by which a new U.S.-led anti-piracy consortium must decide what to do with the men, who in the meantime were being treated “humanely”. Increasingly drone aircrafts that have been used by the US military in Afghanistan and against insurgents in Iraq are now being used to combat pirates off the Somali coast. The US Navy revealed over the weekend that the destroyer Mahan has been using the unmanned aircraft to keep an eye on small vessels that are suspected of carrying pirates. Sources told the Associated Press that the spy flights played a role in last Thursday´s capture of nine suspected pirates. Newly created Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) created under US command to fight piracy around the Horn of Africa has meanwhile been joined by Britain, Denmark, Turkey and Singapore, U.S. officials said.
Meanwhile also Ben Rawlence of the New York-based Human Rights Watch told VOA that his group is concerned that in its eagerness to bring pirates to justice, the United States may be overlooking a critical problem in Kenya, which is likely to affect the way pirates are detained and prosecuted. “There are major, major problems with the Kenyan justice system”, he said. “No one really is guaranteed the right to a fair trial in that system. The police have a terrible record of long periods of detention without trial, terrible conditions in the prisons, very poor record of access to legal representation, interminable delays in the court process. The Kenyan justice system is in a terrible state”.
and
The U.S. Navy finally confirmed that a sailor from the USS San Antonio was missing after he and two others fell from an inflatable boat used to transfer personnel from one ship to another during an anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden. The 5th Fleet´s Bahrain headquarters said the other two sailors were rescued uninjured. The identity of the missing sailor was not disclosed. USS San Antonio. Nelson and Charity Ansong said now they are willing to accept their eldest son´s death after he fell overboard from a U.S. Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden last week, but they just want to know what really happened. U.S. Navy officials said that Engineman First Class Theophilus Kwaku Ansong, 34, of Bristow, disappeared Wednesday. According to a U.S. Navy news release, Ansong and two other sailors were thrown from an inflatable boat that flipped Wednesday while being lowered from the Norfolk-based USS San Antonio in the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia, where the ship had been stationed for counter-piracy operations. The two other sailors were rescued unharmed, but Ansong was not found. Navy officials said a search-and-rescue mission for Ansong lasted more than 24 hours before being called off. But the Ansong’s parents want to know more about what happened and what caused their son´s death. Charity Ansong said her son left on the USS San Antonio about five months ago. He said he could not tell them where he was going, but he regularly called and e-mailed to tell his parents he was all right, she said. Then last week, on Wednesday night, two Navy officers came to the Ansong´s Bristow home with bad news. “They came here and delivered a message that … something had happened,” Nelson Ansong said, resting his head in his hands as he spoke. The Navy officers said that Ansong had not been found, but his life jacket was recovered, zipped and buttoned, Nelson Ansong said. “How can somebody slip from a life vest that´s zipped up? That´s what we want to know. That´s what we have to know”, Nelson Ansong said. He said the family also hopes that the Navy will recover Ansong´s body, so that they can bury him and a cause of death can be determined. “As of now, that is all we want”, Nelson Ansong said. “If he´s dead we need the body and the cause of his death. We need that answered”.
plenty more material in just that one long update
from the feb 24 update, bringing us back to the main focus of this thread
The pirate threat off the Horn of Africa is now so bad that the Pentagon has deployed a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the area. Rear Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, commander of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, has announced that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower has been dispatched to patrol nearly 7.5 million square miles in the Middle East region, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday. The obvious reason for this is that American nuclear-powered super-carriers, because they are much larger than the far smaller conventional carriers that the rest of the world operates, can carry a far larger and more formidable complement of aircraft. They therefore can patrol far larger areas of sea at the same time and launch fast response attacks with powerful squadrons far more often and easily. But nuclear-powered super-carriers have other advantages as well. Because they are nuclear-powered, they can stay at sea for an infinite period of time without being refueled. That vastly reduces the logistical problems of keeping them operationally active and deployed on station for long periods of time, and, sure enough, the Eisenhower has been sent to the Gulf for a five-month mission, its captain said. Tidd said the Eisenhower, which left its home port in Norfolk, Va., Saturday, will offer a strong message to U.S. naval allies, “standing shoulder by shoulder with them in some of the dangerous parts of the world”. However, the pirates are hard to combat. Armchair strategists repeatedly have suggested reviving the World War I British expedient of “Q-ships” — apparently harmless merchantmen that can open fire on pirate attackers with devastating force. But this is a pipe dream. The pirates attack their targets in extremely fast speedboats, and all they would have to do is speed off like lightning when the “Q-ships” revealed their true nature. More and more details are revealed concerning a pending major attack by naval and special forces against pirate land-bases like Eyl in March.
Posted by: b real | Mar 7 2009 6:52 utc | 83
afp: US closely watching China in Africa: official
US intelligence agencies are keeping close tabs on China’s expanding influence in Africa, especially in oil-producing countries like Nigeria, a top US official said Tuesday.
“We are doing so, and we will continue to,” US intelligence director Dennis Blair told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Republican Senator James Inhofe had asked Blair to address “the problem of China” and its influence in Africa, saying that “anything that is new and shiny was given to them by China everywhere you go.”
“China has not been our friend in Somalia or in Sudan,” said Inhofe. “I would just hope that our intelligence community can be watching very carefully the activities of China on the continent of Africa.”
in somalia? what is inhofe smoking? actually, he’s just blowing smoke, in hopes of diversion from what his own govt is doing to that country
webcast of the hearing is avail here
actually, blair mentions the role of china in somalia in assisting in protecting illegal fishing & dumping anti-piracy ops
references to somalia in blair’s prepared testimony
East Africa. We judge the terrorist threat to US interests in East Africa, primarily from al-Qa’ida and al-Qa’ida-affiliated Islamic extremists in Somalia and Kenya, will increase in the next year as al-Qa’ida’s East Africa network continues to plot operations against US, Western, and local targets and the influence of the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab grows. Given the high-profile US role in the region and its perceived direction—in the minds of al-Qa’ida and local extremists—of foreign intervention in Somalia, we assess US counterterrorism efforts will be challenged not only by the al-Qa’ida operatives in the Horn, but also by Somali extremists and increasing numbers of foreign fighters supporting al-Shabaab’s efforts.
in the section on africa:
In the Horn of Africa, the ongoing conflict in Somalia and the collapse of the country’s economy have given rise to a piracy epidemic in the Gulf of Aden and have created a terrorist safehaven in southern Somalia.
…
Somalia
(U) Somalia has not had a stable, central government for 17 years and continues to be mired in conflict. A UN-brokered agreement between the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and key opposition leaders in mid-2008 is unlikely to bring peace to Somalia in the near term. Ethiopia has withdrawn the troops it deployed to protect the TFG and oust the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) in late 2006 and resurgent Islamic extremists are expanding their operations throughout the country. The new unity government is facing multiple challenges, including the continued dominance of clan politics and lack of a viable security force. While the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops removed a key rallying point for the extremist opposition group al-Shabaab al Islamiyah, Islamic militants have shifted their focus toward attacking a modest African Union peacekeeping force charged with protecting the TFG. Worsening violence as militias compete for territory is likely to displace thousands of additional Somalis, adding to this humanitarian crisis.
Lawlessness in Somalia already has prompted a surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The number of successful pirate attacks has increased almost fourfold since 2007 after the pirates received several multi-million dollar ransom payments in early 2008. Local authorities’ unwillingness or inability to stem piracy also has fueled the proliferation of hijackings. The growing number and sophistication of Somali pirate attacks threaten to restrict the options for countering them, and they could take root in Somali society if left unchecked.
somalia is already being contained, if you think about it. there’s a hostile int’l presence along the coasts. and in mogadishu, AMISOM guards the main seaport.
to the south, well i’ve already pointed out the recent warnings to kenya against increased activity & propaganda along its borders w/ somalia.
and to the west, ostensibly in response to the uptick in ethiopian miltary battles w/ the ONFL et al,
Ethiopia masses troops along Somalia border after rebel attacks
..fighting in Mustahil district, in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali-inhabited region, killed at least 25 people and wounded scores last week.
In response, the Ethiopian army deployed hundreds of troops backed by military trucks to the area along the border near Somalia’s Hiran region, local sources reported.
Commercial truck drivers who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the movement of civilian and commercial vehicles has come to a standstill, as Ethiopian soldiers hunt for Somali rebels.
Ethiopian troops also cut off an important road that links Mustahil district to Fer Fer district, which serves as a major Ethiopian army base and a crucial point for civilian and commercial traffic traveling between Ethiopia and Somalia.
The Ethiopian government has not commented on the ongoing military operations.
something is afoot
Posted by: b real | Mar 10 2009 19:17 utc | 99
|
