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Africa Horn

Somalia: Pirates demand 'ransom' for French boat

2008-09-07

(SomaliNet) Somali pirates who seized a French yacht and kidnapped two French nationals were demanding a "ransom" of more than one million dollars to release the vessel, A maritime official said on Thursday.

Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Programme, said they had received reports "the gunmen are demanding more than one million dollars in ransom to release the yacht."

However, the information could not be independently verified as authorities in Somalia's Puntland region, close to where the boat was attacked, could not confirm the claim.

Hijackers captured the 16-metre Carre d'as sailing boat in the Gulf of Aden late on Tuesday and were taking it to Eyl village, a pirate den in Somalia's northern semi-autonomous Puntland region. "We can only pray that the pirates release the hostages. We are powerless to help," said Abdullahi Saed Yusuf, the district comissioner of Eyl.

The French foreign ministry said two French nationals were seized with the Venezuelan-registered boat.

French commandos carried out an operation in April and captured six pirates after Somali pirates seized a French luxury sailing ship, Le Ponant, with its 30 crew, including 22 French nationals, and held them for a week.

Since the end of July, eight ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, including two Malaysian vessels as well as others from Germany, Iran and Japan.

The waters off Somalia are the most dangerous in the world for pirate activity, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting 24 attacks in the area between April and June this year.

Posted by:Fred

#3 The french army commando raid was well-executed, but this went through by the teeth : le canard enchainé revealed crumbling down equipments which led to a string of repeated mechanical failures and almost compromised the whole thing (IIRC, without the chance proximitty of the Jeanne d'Arc schoolboat, there wouldn't have been a chopper to deliver the commando), lack of aerial ressources which led to only part of the pirates being caught and part of the ransom recovered,... basically, a drastic shortage of ressources, and an out-of-age material. And, this was for the cream of the cream of the french army, in a politically sensitive mission that gathered all the available means...

Could it be even repeated? I'm not in the know, but the first one could easily have turned into a disaster, and with the controversy about the afghan deaths, with the inane governement handling of that, and the msm-defeatism (the Paris-match mag published a compleasing interview with the ambushers, posing with weapons and uniforms stolen to french casualties), I don't see sarko being willing to risk somali collateral damages or french casualties.

Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-09-07 13:58

#2 That location sounds like it is in the AOR of the FFL. I suggest giving the assinment to Sgt. Markoff.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-07 08:22

#1 Eyl Village, right on the east coast, latitude 8 deg N. I would say, drop some leaflets giving the pirates 24 hours to have the Frenchmen transported unharmed, about, say 60 miles to the east at Latitude 8 N, or the village will be reduced to rubble, along with everyone in it, and purified with flame. That will stop this nonsense in a Somalian minute.

Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-09-07 03:42

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