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| Africa Horn |
| Foreign cartels blamed for piracy |
| 2011-01-26 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] The international community should target the big fish involved in piracy if the war on the crime is to be won, a Somali MP has urged. Lower Shebelle MP Mohamed Omar Dalha on Monday said foreign cartels were involved in the frequent hijacking of ships in Somali waters since they gain a fortune in ransom. In an interview with the Daily Nation in Mombasa, Prof Dalha said piracy was a money-minting machine like drugs, adding that it was time the fat cats were brought to justice if the international community was serious in combating the crime. He asked how Somali youths aged between 15 and 20 could get information that a ship was coming from Europe and plan an attack when they were illiterate and without communication equipment. Prof Dalha, who served as a Cabinet minister and deputy speaker in former president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed's regime, said foreign players organised the attacks on ships as they had information on the voyages. He said: "If the international community is serious in combating piracy in Somali waters, they should target the major players in the racket, who earn colossal amounts of cash from ransoms. "We are used to seeing illiterate Somali youngsters being jugged and charged in Kenya while the big fish are left to enjoy their illegal fortunes." The MP said it beat logic to hear that Somali teenagers hijacked ships yet the best assembled warships on earth patrol the local waters. He also called on concerned parties to launch a well-equipped and trained coasties in Somalia. He noted that during former president Siad Barre's reign there were no piracy incidents since there was a force in place to counter the crime. "If we are to eradicate piracy in Somalia, then a coasties must be established with trained personnel and machinery to be able to fight the people involved in the racket." At the same time, the MP proposed that the suspected Somali pirates be tried on their soil, arguing that Kenya had no jurisdiction to prosecute them under international laws. He said Kenya could only try them if they were caught committing the crimes in Kenyan waters. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > NEW US AFRICOM CHIEF [Gen. Carter Ham] WILL CONSIDER BASE IN AFRICA DESPITE INITIAL OPPOSITION. Read, Babes + Kidz + Pets liked modern STUTTGART, GERMANY. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-01-26 00:45 |
| #1 BHARAT RAKSHAK > POSTER thread = SOMALI PIRATES/PIRACY steadily expands its tentacles = Buccaneer reach towards MALDIVES + COASTS OF WEST INDIA. Gettin' closer + closer to INDJUH = INDIA every year. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-01-26 00:40 |