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Somali pirates seize tanker near India
 [Al Jazeera] Pirates off the coast of Somalia have carried out one of their most daring hijackings yet, seizing a tanker in waters close to India.If they're pirates off the coast of Somalia they're not near India. Thursday's raid in the Indian Ocean came as the world's leading anti-piracy experts debated solutions to the growing problem. "All in favor of yardarm?" "Aye!" "And those in favor of keelhauling?" "Aye!" NAPALM!!! DRINK!!! The conference in London also comes as experts claim that Somali pirates have set up a sophisticated network of agents to negotiate and launder ransom money that has turned the seizing of ships into a lucrative business. What would we do without experts. We knew this a year ago here at the Burg. An international expert who attended the annual assembly of Interpol, the global police organisation, in Doha, the Qatari capital, told the AFP news agency that sea pirates use the financial hub of Dubai and Somalia's southern neighbour Kenya as key transit points to launder the millions of dollars in ransom money by organised gangs. "We think that they have a network of correspondents in the region to negotiate the ransoms and to transfer part of the money," he said. Another expert, who is based in the United Arab Emirates, said Dubai was a platform where the pirates do their business. "Dubai is one of the places where they launder the ransom money," said the expert, who also spoke . "It's the irony of Dubai. The bulk of negotiations are conducted here, the deliveries are arranged by security companies that are here, the money is delivered or transferred and ends up here, discretely." The US state department has also identified the UAE, whose seven emirates include Dubai, and Kenya as centres pirates are using to run their illegal operations. Posted by: Fred 2010-11-13 |
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