update,
The two sides have agreed upon all the agendas in meeting, apart from the most sensitive point which was how to equally share the ransom which the hijacked foreign vessels pay to the pirates.
“The delegate from Al-Shabab has said that we should give them 10% of the ransom money which we obtain from the owners, the companies or the insurance companies which the vessels which we are holding as captive give us, and this is beyond logic, and we could not accept, and I assure that this will be the end of our relationship with Al-Shabab” said a Somali pirate who has requested his name no to be quoted.
And instantly after the bilateral meeting was over Al-Shabab fighters have taken with them 4 prominent business tycoons who sponsor the pirates in the shore, and the destination to where these businessmen were taken to is not manifest.
On the other hand currently there are 11 vessels at Haradere, and the report adds that these 11 vessels removed their anchors from Haradere port and heading towards Hobyo district which is also another location for the pirates.
The inhabitants in the area are showing great anxiety that confrontation between the Pirates and the Al-Shabab can occuer at anytime and some of them have now started moving to the remote areas of the district.
Some 4 days ago a plane carrying 8 Somali pirates who were systematically killed by South Korean Commandos, were brought at Aden Adde International airport after having been in the hands of the Korean commands for couple of days while they were dead and concealed in refrigerators.
MOGADISHU — Somali pirates who hijacked a yacht believed to have Americans onboard were expected to bring the boat back to their main base of Hobyo, a senior pirate commander told AFP Saturday.
According to Ecoterra International, a non-governmental organisation monitoring maritime activity in the region, pirates hijacked the S/V Quest with four Americans onboard Friday in the Indian Ocean.
Abdi Yare, a top pirate commander in Hobyo, 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu, said the boarding squad that captured the yacht left a week earlier from Harardhere, another pirate base further south.
"The pirate team that hijacked the yacht is led by a senior commander from the Harardhere area," he said.
"I think they will bring them (the hostages) here, near Hobyo, to negotiate the ransom," Yare added.
Harardhere, located around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Hobyo is where modern Somali piracy originated in 2003-2004.
The town was conquered by the Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired insurgent group which is officially opposed to piracy but has recently appeared to tolerate pirate activity on its territory in exchange for a cut of the ransoms.
A dispute broke out in recent days between the Shebab and the main "investors" who finance pirate raids and hijackings in exchange for a stake in the ransoms.
As a result, most of the vessels that had recently been held off the shores of Harardhere have been transferred to Hobyo and another smaller town to the north called Labad.
Most of the 40-plus vessels currently held are cargo or fishing ships but when they capture yachts, the pirates tend to take the hostages to shore as their main bargaining chip is the crew's freedom rather than the ship's value.
Few Americans have been taken hostage by pirates since attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean surged in 2007.
Abdi Yare said he had received few details on the identities of the S/V Quest's crew as it was still far out at sea, heading towards the Somali coast.
"But we have been told they are Americans.... This could be a big catch."
Scott and Jean Adam were on their yacht the SV Quest with two other unidentified U.S. citizens when they were hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast.
Omar Jamal, first secretary at the Somali mission, said the hijacking raised 'serious concern' as it followed the sentencing this week of a Somali pirate for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.
Earlier this week a Somali pirate told an Associated Press reporter in Somalia that pirates would target Americans in retaliation for the sentencing.
The pirate, who identified himself by the name Hassan, said Americans would suffer 'regrettable consequences'.
Pirates have recently tied hostages upside down and dragged them in the sea, locked them in freezers, beaten them and used plastic ties around their genitals, the commander of the European Union anti-piracy force, Major Gen. Buster Howes told AP this month.
The case of the Maersk Alabama case ended in a spectacular rescue when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship's captain, Richard Phillips.
Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse was sentenced to 33 years in prison this week.
Pirates have turned increasingly violent in their attacks, and naval officials say pirates have begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human shields.
The Adams use the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles, as their mailing address, but the pair have been sailing around the world since 2004.
The Los Angeles Times says that the pair distribute Bibles worldwide.
The Adams' abduction also echoes the kidnapping of Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were ultimately released without harm but suffered a year of captivity.
A U.S. military spokesman at Central Command in Florida said: 'We're aware of the situation and we
Matt Goshko, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which oversees Somalia, said preliminary reports indicate there are four U.S. citizens aboard the Quest.
'All relevant U.S. agencies are monitoring the situation, working to develop further information, assess options and possible responses,' Goshko said.
U.S. officials will likely try to prevent the Adams' yacht from reaching Somalia, where their options to rescue the Americans become more limited.
The Adams website documents the couple's trip around the world since December 2004, stating: 'This is planned to be an eight or ten year voyage.'
It describes Jean Adam is a retired dentist with 'an interest in the biological sciences and the natural world around us all (otherwise known as God's creation).'
The Adams travelled from El Salvador and Panama in 2005 to Fiji in 2007 and Singapore and Cambodia last year.
They most recently sailed from Thailand to Sri Lanka and India.
Their website said they were on their way to Oman when they were taken.
Djibouti - the tiny East African country directly north of Somalia - had been next on their list. A satellite tracking system the couple uses showed them docked in Mumbai, India on February 1.
Djibouti is a big refuelling stop. I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring,' the couple's website says. The news comes on the same day that the European Union's anti-piracy task force said Somali pirates had apparently hijacked a separate vessel, the Alfardous, and its eight crew members in the Gulf of Aden. Daily Mail,
U.S. may use force to seek release of American couple from Somali pirates: report
//also Dawn reports which Somaliweyn website has received from the coastal district of Hardere in Mudug region in central Somalia say that, in a 2 days meeting between Al-Shabab which is a strong Islamist faction which controls over 10 regions in southern Somalia and Somali Pirates has ended in unsuccessful .The two sides have agreed upon all the agendas in meeting, apart from the most sensitive point which was how to equally share the ransom which the hijacked foreign vessels pay to the pirates.
“The delegate from Al-Shabab has said that we should give them 10% of the ransom money which we obtain from the owners, the companies or the insurance companies which the vessels which we are holding as captive give us, and this is beyond logic, and we could not accept, and I assure that this will be the end of our relationship with Al-Shabab” said a Somali pirate who has requested his name no to be quoted.
And instantly after the bilateral meeting was over Al-Shabab fighters have taken with them 4 prominent business tycoons who sponsor the pirates in the shore, and the destination to where these businessmen were taken to is not manifest.
On the other hand currently there are 11 vessels at Haradere, and the report adds that these 11 vessels removed their anchors from Haradere port and heading towards Hobyo district which is also another location for the pirates.
The inhabitants in the area are showing great anxiety that confrontation between the Pirates and the Al-Shabab can occuer at anytime and some of them have now started moving to the remote areas of the district.
Some 4 days ago a plane carrying 8 Somali pirates who were systematically killed by South Korean Commandos, were brought at Aden Adde International airport after having been in the hands of the Korean commands for couple of days while they were dead and concealed in refrigerators.
MOGADISHU — Somali pirates who hijacked a yacht believed to have Americans onboard were expected to bring the boat back to their main base of Hobyo, a senior pirate commander told AFP Saturday.
According to Ecoterra International, a non-governmental organisation monitoring maritime activity in the region, pirates hijacked the S/V Quest with four Americans onboard Friday in the Indian Ocean.
Abdi Yare, a top pirate commander in Hobyo, 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu, said the boarding squad that captured the yacht left a week earlier from Harardhere, another pirate base further south.
"The pirate team that hijacked the yacht is led by a senior commander from the Harardhere area," he said.
"I think they will bring them (the hostages) here, near Hobyo, to negotiate the ransom," Yare added.
Harardhere, located around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Hobyo is where modern Somali piracy originated in 2003-2004.
The town was conquered by the Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired insurgent group which is officially opposed to piracy but has recently appeared to tolerate pirate activity on its territory in exchange for a cut of the ransoms.
A dispute broke out in recent days between the Shebab and the main "investors" who finance pirate raids and hijackings in exchange for a stake in the ransoms.
As a result, most of the vessels that had recently been held off the shores of Harardhere have been transferred to Hobyo and another smaller town to the north called Labad.
Most of the 40-plus vessels currently held are cargo or fishing ships but when they capture yachts, the pirates tend to take the hostages to shore as their main bargaining chip is the crew's freedom rather than the ship's value.
Few Americans have been taken hostage by pirates since attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean surged in 2007.
Abdi Yare said he had received few details on the identities of the S/V Quest's crew as it was still far out at sea, heading towards the Somali coast.
"But we have been told they are Americans.... This could be a big catch."
Were they targeted in retaliation? Pirate warns of 'regrettable consequences' as four U.S. citizens are hijacked off Somali coast
- U.S. military weighing response as four U.S. citizens vanish
- Attack comes just days after pirate is jailed for 33 years over 2009 hijacking of Maersk Alabama
- Scott and Jean Adams travelled the world handing out Bibles
Scott and Jean Adam were on their yacht the SV Quest with two other unidentified U.S. citizens when they were hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast.
Omar Jamal, first secretary at the Somali mission, said the hijacking raised 'serious concern' as it followed the sentencing this week of a Somali pirate for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.
Taken hostage: Scott and Jean Adams, who travel the world in their yacht the SV Quest, have been kidnapped by Somali pirates
On a quest: The Adams' yacht, on which they were travelling with two other unidentified U.S. citizens when they were attacked
Los Angeles base: The Adams are members of the Del Rey Yacht Club in Los Angeles, but they have been sailing around the world since 2004. Their website states they intended to do so for eight to ten years
The pirate, who identified himself by the name Hassan, said Americans would suffer 'regrettable consequences'.
Pirates have recently tied hostages upside down and dragged them in the sea, locked them in freezers, beaten them and used plastic ties around their genitals, the commander of the European Union anti-piracy force, Major Gen. Buster Howes told AP this month.
The case of the Maersk Alabama case ended in a spectacular rescue when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship's captain, Richard Phillips.
Website pictures: The six-year mission of the Adams, which has taken them to exotic locations around the world, is chronicled on their site. The Los Angeles Times claims the pair distribute the Bible worldwide
Pirates have turned increasingly violent in their attacks, and naval officials say pirates have begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human shields.
The Adams use the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles, as their mailing address, but the pair have been sailing around the world since 2004.
The Los Angeles Times says that the pair distribute Bibles worldwide.
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Frightening parallels: The Adams kidnap comes in the same week as Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse was jailed for the kidnap and abuse of Richard Phillips, and echoes the year-long captivity of Rachel and Paul Chandler
The Adams' abduction also echoes the kidnapping of Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were ultimately released without harm but suffered a year of captivity.
A U.S. military spokesman at Central Command in Florida said: 'We're aware of the situation and we
Matt Goshko, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which oversees Somalia, said preliminary reports indicate there are four U.S. citizens aboard the Quest.
'All relevant U.S. agencies are monitoring the situation, working to develop further information, assess options and possible responses,' Goshko said.
U.S. officials will likely try to prevent the Adams' yacht from reaching Somalia, where their options to rescue the Americans become more limited.
The Adams website documents the couple's trip around the world since December 2004, stating: 'This is planned to be an eight or ten year voyage.'
It describes Jean Adam is a retired dentist with 'an interest in the biological sciences and the natural world around us all (otherwise known as God's creation).'
The Adams travelled from El Salvador and Panama in 2005 to Fiji in 2007 and Singapore and Cambodia last year.
They most recently sailed from Thailand to Sri Lanka and India.
Their website said they were on their way to Oman when they were taken.
Djibouti - the tiny East African country directly north of Somalia - had been next on their list. A satellite tracking system the couple uses showed them docked in Mumbai, India on February 1.
Djibouti is a big refuelling stop. I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring,' the couple's website says. The news comes on the same day that the European Union's anti-piracy task force said Somali pirates had apparently hijacked a separate vessel, the Alfardous, and its eight crew members in the Gulf of Aden. Daily Mail,
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