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  • Somalia ransom probe Britons jailed
    Sunday June 19 2011

    Three Britons who allegedly took millions of dollars into Somalia to pay pirate ransoms have been jailed in the Horn of Africa.

    The two men accused of carrying the cash were sentenced to 15 years behind bars and handed a $15,000 fine while the third was ordered to serve 10 years and pay $10,000.

    They are now being held in Mogadishu along with an American and two Kenyans who were given 10-year prison terms for their roles.

    The group was arrested last month shortly after flying into the capital's airport with around $3.6 million (£2.2 million) in cash, it was claimed.

    A Somali official has said the planes they used are frequently employed by companies delivering ransoms.

    It is the first time Westerners have been sentenced for involvement in pirate payments.

    Officials did not give further details on the jailed men but it is understood they are unlikely to have to serve their full sentences and discussions are under way to reduce or overturn the penalties.

    Asked about possible pardons or parole, Somali Information Ministry spokesman Abdifitah Abdinur said: "Everything is possible and I can't comment on the future."

    A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the verdict. We have impressed upon the transitional federal government to ensure the safety and security of the group while legal options are considered."

    Press Association
    http://www.independent.ie/breaking-n...d-2800345.html

    Anybody give me a good reason why the sentences should be overturned?
    Last edited by Flamingo; 19 June 2011, 18:31.
    'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
    'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
    Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
    He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
    http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

    Comment


    • Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
      I'm sure it has been discussed before, but would the Naval Service have the resources / vessels capable of contributing to this multinational anti-piracy / aid escort effort in the Gulf of Aden or are their hands full with the current fishery protection / drugs policing role? As it is an EU effort, then it would seem to be logical.
      There are suggestions that the soon to reture ships would end their days in the indian ocean, in an anti piracy role, and then be donated to a nearby emerging state. Only the Peacocks would be ideal though, as they have the High volume Aircon required for working in tropical waters, whil ships like Emer has 2 settings, "off" and "bake".


      Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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      • How piracy affects the Seychelles and how they respond

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        • good video
          thanks for posting
          Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

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          • Really good vid.

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            • Interesting take on it. Seems the NAVFOR ROE are not doing much to deter the Somalis.

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              • Cannot believe they took 6 weeks christmas break!
                Everyone who's ever loved you was wrong.

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                • Off-thread, but I had my favorite Somali fare-dodging thief on my train today for the first time in ages. the bastard had the cheek to say "I haven't seen you for a while, have you been on holidays?" He got off after one stop, despite having a ticket for about six. It might have been because I put out an announcement on the PA "We have known thieves on board, watch your possessions" and told the Buffet crew to accept cash only from him (stolen CC's in the past from him and once memorably he tried to pay with a M&S gift card!).

                  Could anybody arrange for him to be sent on an all expenses paid trip to the Indian Ocean?
                  'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
                  'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
                  Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
                  He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
                  http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

                  Comment


                  • Somalia pardons jailed Britons
                    Sunday June 26 2011

                    Somalia's president has pardoned six foreigners, including three Britons, sentenced to at least 10 years in prison each for bringing millions of dollars intended for pirate ransom into the country, an official has said.

                    Abdirahman Omar Osman, the Somali government spokesman, said the three British nationals, an American and two Kenyans, would be free after a court processes their release.

                    The men were arrested in Mogadishu last month after their planes were found to be carrying millions of dollars in cash.

                    Two of the defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 15,000 US dollar fine, the others were sentenced to 10 years and a 10,000 dollar fine.

                    Pirates have been receiving millions of dollars in ransoms for several years now but this was the first time Westerners were sentenced for their role in paying out the ransoms.

                    Mr Osman said 50,000 dollar fines for each of the planes would need to be paid before they could be released.

                    The average ransom paid to pirates has reached nearly five million dollars. The ransoms are often air-dropped down to hijacked ships. Somalia has been mired in conflict since long-time dictator Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords in 1991 who then turned on each other.

                    The conflict inland has helped piracy flourish on the waters off the horn Africa country.

                    There were a record high 142 piracy attacks worldwide in the first quarter of this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a global maritime watchdog. Nearly 70% or 97 of the attacks occurred off the coast of Somalia, up sharply from 35 attacks in the same period a year earlier.
                    http://www.independent.ie/breaking-n...s-2806312.html
                    'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
                    'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
                    Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
                    He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
                    http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

                    Comment


                    • Piracy ransom cash ends up with Somali militants

                      Wed Jul 6, 2011 8:18am EDT

                      * Payments technically breach sanctions, say U.N. officials

                      * Britain, United States say al Shabaab are terrorists

                      * Pirates say forced to deal with militants

                      * UK shipping says ransoms only way to rescue hostages


                      By Richard Lough

                      NAIROBI, July 6 (Reuters) - Ransoms paid to Somali pirates to free merchant vessels are ending up in the hands of Islamist militants, laying shipping groups open to accusations of breaching international sanctions, U.N. officials told Reuters.

                      John Steed, the principal military adviser to the U.N. special envoy to Somalia and head of the envoy's counter-piracy unit, said links between armed pirate gangs and Somalia's al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were gradually firming.

                      "The payment of ransoms just like any other funding activity, illegal or otherwise, is technically in breach of the Somalia sanctions regime if it makes the security situation in Somalia worse," said Steed.

                      "Especially if it is ending up in the hands of terrorists or militia leaders -- and we believe it is, some directly, some more indirectly," said Steed, a retired military officer.

                      Ransom demands have risen steadily in recent years. According to one study, the average ransom stood at $5.4 million in 2010, up from $150,000 in 2005, helping Somali pirates rake in nearly $240 million last year.

                      Steed acknowledged he had no proof of an operational relationship between the pirates and the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels who control much of southern and central Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu.

                      Some political analysts said the policy of some Western governments to endorse the payment of ransoms, seen as fuelling the insecurity, is at odds with their financial support for the Somali government and the African troops propping it up.

                      Under the terms of the arms embargo on Somalia, financial support to armed groups in the Horn of Africa country is banned. Both the United States and Britain regard al Shabaab as a terrorist organisation.

                      The U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says pirates are increasingly launching their cross-ocean raids from the al Shabaab-controlled southern coastal city of Kismayu. Recruitment for pirates from the region was also on the rise, it said.

                      "Detained pirates tell us that some level of cooperation with al Shabaab is necessary to run a criminal enterprise," said Alan Cole, piracy programme coordinator at UNODC.

                      Al Shabaab sources agree.

                      "If there was no relationship between us, there is no way the pirates would be able to operate, or carry their weapons within zones we control," said an al Shabaab militant based in the pirate haven of Haradhere, north of Mogadishu.

                      BIGGEST GAMES IN TOWN

                      Natznet Tesfay of Executive Analysis said al Shabaab was heavily involved in smuggling through Kismayu, slapping taxes on illegal charcoal exports to the Gulf, arms shipments from Yemen and electronic goods destined for the region.

                      "Piracy and contraband smuggling are the two biggest games around," said Tesfay at the specialist intelligence company.

                      Tesfay said she had yet to see evidence of an "operational relationship" between the pirates and al Shabaab but that the militants had a reputation for monopolising key income-earning sectors once they had taken control of an area.

                      In February al Shabaab seized a number of pirate gang leaders in Haradhere and forced them to accept a multi-million dollar deal under which the pirates would hand over 20 percent of future ransoms.

                      A Reuters investigation found the following payments had been made to al Shabaab's "marine office":

                      On Feb. 25: $200,000 from the release of the Japanese-owned MV Izumi after pirates received a $4.5 million ransom.

                      On March 8: $80,000 from the $2 million release of the St Vincent & Grenadines-flagged MV Rak Africana.

                      On March 9: $100,000 after the Singapore-flagged MV York was freed for $4.5 million.

                      On April 13: $600,000 from the release of the German ship Beluga Nomination after a $5.5 million ransom was paid.

                      On April 15: A $66,000 share of the $3.6 million ransom handed over for the Panama-flagged MV Asphalt Venture.

                      On May 14: $100,000 from the release of two Spanish crew of the Spanish-owned FV VEGA 5.

                      The amounts were corroborated by pirates, al Shabaab militants and residents of Haradhere.

                      ONLY WAY TO FREE HOSTAGES

                      "Some money has to be ending up in al Shabaab's hands," said Michael Frodl, a Washington Lawyer and head of C-level Maritime Risks, which advises Lloyd's of London underwriters.

                      Frodl questioned whether payment of ransoms would be even an indirect breach of the arms embargo, but said that if proved, it might break laws in the United States and Britain against funding terrorism.

                      Sanctions experts said ransoms could violate the arms embargo if they were voluntary financial support to armed groups in Somalia, but said the payments could be considered extortion, and therefore involuntary, blurring the issue.

                      Some Horn of Africa experts argued there appeared to be no clear systematic link between pirates and al Shabaab's central command, but there probably were ties at a more local level.

                      It was likely there was a bleeding of pirate money to local rebel commanders through clan ties, "taxes" or even protection money, they said.

                      C-level Maritime's Frodl said the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) carried out reviews of all potential ransom payments to determine if the pirate group in question had ever handed over part of a ransom to al Shabaab.

                      "Most times OFAC has authorised payment because it has found no link," Frodl said. "But if there is indeed a 20 percent 'tax' being applied by Shabaab against pirate ransoms in Haradhere, a major pirate hub it now controls, then things could change."

                      In April 2010, President Barack Obama issued an executive order barring any financial dealings with 11 masterminds of the Somali conflict. According to the OFAC, two of them are in charge of pirate gangs.

                      While Washington has firmly opposed ransom payments, counter-piracy experts say London -- home to the world's shipping and insurance industries -- has demonstrated a conspicuous lack of appetite to follow suit.

                      The UK Chamber of Shipping said it would continue to consider piracy a criminal activity, until proof emerged of financial ties between the sea-bandits and insurgents.

                      The association welcomed what it called the government's "balanced view" in refraining from preventing ransom deals.

                      "Frankly, that's the only way we get people released," said Mark Brownrigg, the chamber's director-general.
                      http://http://www.reuters.com/articl...7650U320110706

                      Comment


                      • Pirates demand Korea free prisoners
                        Friday, July 15, 2011 - 11:05 AM



                        Somali pirates holding South Korean hostages have demanded that the South Korean government release pirate prisoners and pay compensation for a commando raid that killed several pirates earlier this year.

                        The attempt to use hostages to get concessions directly from their governments is a new trend, following demands made to the Indian government in April.

                        Hassan Abdi, one of the pirates holding 25 crew aboard the MV Gemini, said his group wants compensation for eight pirates killed in February when South Korean commandos stormed a ship and freed 21 hostages.

                        He also wants pirates being held prisoner in South Korea to be released.

                        “First, we want the South Korean government to change its foolish treatment of us and come with a better approach toward us,” he said in a statement.

                        “Second, we want compensation from them because they killed our brothers and they also have to release others in their jails. After that we may reconsider holding their nationals in our hands,” he said.

                        The MV Gemini was hijacked off the Kenyan coast in May. Four of the crew are South Korean.

                        In April, pirates released the MV Asphalt Venture but kept seven Indian crew members, saying they had been angered by the Indian navy’s killing of several colleagues and that the pirates wanted to exchange the hostages for prisoners held in India.

                        Most hijackings end with million-dollar ransoms being paid.



                        Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/...#ixzz1SAmlCnuU


                        Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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                        • Australias Response to Piracy-Legal Issues.


                          Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

                          Comment


                          • Comment


                            • Originally posted by Kontroller View Post
                              That video was posted on this thread about a year ago.

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                              • Originally posted by Sluggie View Post
                                That video was posted on this thread about a year ago.
                                oh

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