Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The War At Sea Escalates : ANALYSIS-Somali pirates grow bolder, world response lags

February 9, 2011: Shipping companies and shipping associations are calling on governments to be more forceful in dealing with Somali pirates. This includes calls for detachments of troops to be stationed on ships moving through the Indian Ocean. This hard line attitude has developed over the last year as it became known that the pirates were using more violence against captured sailors. Some of these seamen are being killed or wounded during the pirate attacks on their ships, while others are being beaten, starved or murdered while in captivity. Even worse, captured seamen on some ships, are being used as human shields. This happens when ships (usually fishing vessels) are used as mother ships, and attacked by navy or coast guard ships or helicopters. The UN is more concerned with the suffering of Somalis in the south (beneath Somaliland and Puntland). There, 30 percent of those eight million people are starving because of a long drought and Islamic radicals prohibiting foreign food aid, or stealing most of what is allowed in. About 15 percent of those southern Somalis are also refugees, having been driven from their homes by fighting, usually between clans, or because of Islamic radical groups enforcing harsh lifestyle rules.
India is alarmed at the increased Somali pirate activity off its southwest coast (near the Lakshadweep islands, about 300 kilometers off the coast). The pirates are getting out this far mostly by using captured sea-going fishing ships as mother ships. These "freezer trawlers" are up to 100 meters (310 feet) long and have freezer facilities on board to store hundreds of tons of frozen fish. These ships normally stay at sea months at a time and have crews of 15-30. The pirates don't get as large a ransom for fishing ships as they do for larger cargo and tanker ships. This is particularly true of the coastal freezer trawlers, which are often old and worth less than half a million dollars each. The owner cannot pay the millions in ransom the pirates often demand for these ships. These fishing ships are all over the Indian Ocean, between Africa and India, and the pirates realized that they could hide two speedboats on these vessels and the fishing crew could be used to operate the ship, in addition to twenty or so pirates. But now the Indians, and the anti-piracy patrol in general, are paying closer attention to all those fishing ships. If you know what to look for, and look closely, you can detect which ones are run by pirates. The names of captured fishing ships are known, and they are now being sought at sea. There is a sense of urgency with this, because it's been discovered that the pirates treat the fishermen much more savagely (starving and beating them, often to death). At least one group of pirates is using a small (95 meter ling)  tanker as a mother ship.
The violence continues in Mogadishu, with several hundred casualties a week. The cause is often local disputes. There is still some fighting between Islamic radical factions. Outside the city, there are still several clan feuds going on.
February 8, 2011; An Italian tanker was seized 800 kilometers off the Indian coast, and 1,300 kilometers from Somalia. The pirates were operating from a mother ship (captured fishing ship). These attacks, closer to Indian than Somalia, are alarming, as these are major oil tanker shipping lanes, and 40 percent of the world's oil tanker traffic passes through the Indian Ocean.
February 6, 2011: An Indian warship captured the second (the Prantalay-11) of three fishing ships taken by pirates ten months ago, and since turned into mother ships. The Indians followed the two speedboats back to the Prantalay-11, and attacked the ship when the pirates opened fire. The pirates quickly surrendered, and 28 were taken. In addition, 24 fishermen, used to operate the Prantalay-11, were rescued. Last January 28th, the Indians rescued the Prantalay-14, and sank it, after a similar battle in which fifteen pirates were captured, after ten were shot dead.
February 4, 2011: In the last year, Somali pirates have attacked 286 ships, captured 67 of them (along with 1,130 crew). Over a dozen of these vessels were high seas fishing boats, many of them turned into mother ships. The UN is calling for something to be done, as long as it does not involve an invasion of Somalia. That's the key problem. As long as the pirates have safe bases ashore, and are still getting ransoms, they have every incentive to keep at it. There are not enough warships to keep the pirates from seizing ships.
February 3, 2011: The TNG (Transitional National Government) parliament (435 of 500 members) met and 421 of them voted to extend the parliament for three years. The TNG parliament has passed no laws in the past six years, and serves mainly to enrich the members of parliament. Each is paid $300 a month by the UN, and can make more if they can steal foreign aid. The members of the TNG government receive some protection from 8,000 AU (African Union) peacekeepers, and an increasing number of Western trained TNG soldiers and police. But the TNG has proved unable to get the many clans of Somalia to unite in backing a national government. The U.S., and other Western nations that pay for most of this, want a new TNG parliament elected, when its current term ends in August. But the current parliament insists that there is too much violence in the country to run a fair selection process, and that the current legislators should remain. Arguing over this will continue until August, and probably after as wel

ANALYSIS-Somali pirates grow bolder, world response lags

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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