US Navy plays waiting game with surrounded Somali pirates
MOGADISHU (AFP) — The US Navy on Wednesday kept up the pressure on Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian cargo shipment of tanks and other weapons, as the European Union agreed an anti-piracy operation in the region.
Warships from the United States and other navies have blockaded the MV Faina in a port off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, where the pirates who captured it are demanding a 20-million-dollar payment for the cargo.
The US Defense Department said it expected a Russian warship to arrive within days, but said it had laid the emphasis on ensuring a "peaceful resolution."
A Russian naval spokesman also played down talk of confrontation, denying in a statement Wednesday evening that the vessel had been sent to fight the pirates, who are holding Russia seaman among the crew of the MV Faina.
"Such declarations are of a provocative character, they can prejudice the talks talks aimed at freeing the crew of the cargo ship," said Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo.
The patrol boat Intrepid despatched from the Baltic fleet to the Indian Ocean was there to protect Russian shipping there, he said.
A meeting of EU defence ministers in Deauville, northern France, meanwhile, agreed to launch an anti-piracy security operation off the coast of Somalia, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said Wednesday.
"There is very broad European willingness," said Morin.
"Many countries want to take part. Ten have clearly given their accord to take part in such a mission," he added.
They included Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and possibly Britain, he said.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed urged Somalis and the international community to combat rising piracy off the lawless nation's waters, which has seen 60 ships seized this year alone.
"They (pirates) are imposing an embargo on the Somali people and the international community because they are blocking movement between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, which affects not only Somalia but the whole world," Yusuf told reporters in Mogadishu.
"I call on the Somali people to fight against the pirates. I also call on the international community to act quickly on what is happening in Somali waters as well as on shore," he added.
The pirates, who seized the Belize-flagged freighter with its 21-man crew and 33 Soviet-era T-72 battle tanks last Thursday, say they are under 24-hour surveillance from US ships and helicopters.
"We are prepared for any eventuality," warned pirate spokesman Sugule Ali, by satellite telephone from the ship.
The Bahrain-based US Navy Fifth Fleet said several ships and helicopters were in the area to support the destroyer USS Howard as it observed its target, now docked at the Somali port village of Hobyo.
Abdikadir Musa Yusuf, deputy seaports minister for the Somali breakaway region of Puntland, said, "There are negotiations going on between the pirates and the foreign ships."
The Pentagon said it wanted a peaceful resolution and US warships were there to make sure pirates do not make off with its military cargo.
"But at this point, what we are most concerned about is seeing a peaceful solution to this problem," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said, adding that US Navy was not negotiating with the pirates.
He said the main US concern was "that this cargo does not end up in the hands of anyone who would use it in a way that would be destabilising to the region."
There are 21 Ukrainians, Russians and Latvians in the crew. The ship's captain died of an illness on board, according to Russian media.
"We are sticking to the demand for 20 million dollars. This is not ransom, but a fine for unlawfully transporting weapons on Somali waters," Ali said.
The pirates and the US Navy say the arms were headed for Sudan. The Ukrainian owners of the freighter and the Kenyan government said the tanks were destined for Kenya.
Piracy is rife and well organised in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil transits.
