Africa News
Canadian navy wards off another Somali pirate attack (Roundup)
Apr 19, 2009, 16:20 GMT
New York/Ottawa - A Canadian warship warded off another attack by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, this time on a Norwegian tanker, US and Canadian media reports said Sunday.
The destroyer Winnipeg chased away the pirates' speedboat after warding off the attempt early Sunday to attack the 80,000-ton MV Front Ardenne using automatic weapons and rocket launchers.
US naval vessels were also involved in the chase, which ended with the Canadians briefly detaining the pirates but then releasing them as Canadian law did not allow their prosecution.
On Saturday, legal reasons also forced Dutch troops to release nine pirates they captured after freeing 16 Yemeni fishermen and their vessel, which was being used to attack a tanker.
A Dutch military spokesman said the pirates' weapons - seven AK-47 rifles and a rocket-launcher - were seized and destroyed.
A Belgian dredging vessel also fell into pirate hands on Saturday with 10 crew members, including Europeans, onboard.
Pirate activity has picked up in recent weeks after a lull due to bad weather. Almost 30 ships have been attacked in the last four weeks. Sixteen ships, with around 250 crew members, are being held hostage.
The highest-profile attack in recent weeks was the failed hijacking of the US-flagged Maersk Alabama.
The Alabama's crew repelled the hijacking but the captain was held hostage for five days on a lifeboat. He was freed Sunday when US Navy snipers killed the three pirates holding him.
In 2008, pirates seized more than 40 vessels in and around the Gulf of Aden and collected tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, prompting the international community to send warships to the region.
According to the US Navy, around 15 warships from the European Union, a US-led coalition task force, NATO and individual countries patrol an area of about 2.85 million square kilometres.
The presence of the warships has appeared to have had little effect. Observers say that only by tackling insecurity and poverty in Somalia will piracy finally be halted.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday announced a four-point plan to counter piracy, including steps to improve security, policing and governance in Somalia.
COMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Exactly.
As a Canadian citizen, I was appalled to hear the pirates were released. Perhaps one of our human rights commission representatives was on board and didn't want to offend them.
Something many folks may have missed is that several small sailboats have also been hijacked. These boats have little of commercial value for the pirates except the lives of the crew.
What is the difference here between these actions and, say, hijacking an airplane? Why aren't we treating these pirates as the hijackers they are?
Indeed, from my perspective, these actions look remarkably like terrorism.
page: 1
BattarApr 19th, 2009 - 18:19:17
You can't combat piracy if your policy is to release the pirates as soon as you catch them. Tomorrow they will go and hijack another ship. NATO has proved itself useless in this game. The only way to effectivly combat piracy is to blow the pirates' boats out of the water.
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