Greek Vessel Freed by Pirates off Somalia

“A ransom drop was successfully made for the release of the Greek owned Panama-flagged bulk carrier, Navios Apollon,” the EU NAVFOR naval force said in a statement.
It was the second ransom drop to the pirates in two days, demonstrating the dilemma governments and companies are in over the need to recover their ships and crews and the fears of encouraging further piracy.
In both cases the amount of money handed over to the pirates was not given.
The pirates disappeared back to the shore of impoverished Somalia.
Britain on Monday denied blocking an independent negotiator from trying to agree a ransom for a British couple held hostage in Somalia, but warned any such payment would encourage more kidnaps.
Armed Somali pirates, using speedboats, seized the Greek freighter involved in the latest ransom drop in the Indian Ocean in late December while it was en route to Thailand .
The ship’s captain is Greek and the crew is Filipino.
The EU statement said that “no requests for assistance have been made at this time” and NAVFOR was continuing to monitor the situation.

ENGLISH Democrats have pulled back from paying a ransom to Somali pirates to free the couple they have held hostage.
Island election co-ordinator of the party that was formed in 2001, William Tilling, this week made contact with the family of Kent yachting couple Paul and Rachel Chandler who have been held for many weeks.
Mr Tilling had said he was prepared to defy the government line of not paying ransoms and break the deadlock by his party launching a public appeal and delivering the cash himself.
But, after making contact with the Chandlers’ family, Mr Tilling, from Yarmouth Road, Shalfleet, said: “The family has been overwhelmed by the support for Paul and Rachel but does not want intervention.
“The relative I spoke to implored people to wait and pray, and, of course, I readily agreed to that.”

Pirates reduce ransom demand for hostage couple (KENTNEWS)
Pressure is mounting on a deal to be reached to free kidnapped couple Paul and Rachel Chandler.
The duo from Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, have been held against their will by Somali pirates since October 23.
This week, reports claim those holding the couple have dropped their ransom demands.
Kidnappers claim the new figure covers ‘expenses’ for the 150 guards they have hiding the Chandlers, and the cost of food and vehicles.
The British Government has consistently insisted it will not pay a ransom, and kept details of any negotiations for their release tightly guarded.
The Times quoted a Whitehall security official this week as saying: “This case is unusual. Unlike seamen kidnapped in the region, the Chandlers are just ordinary holidaymakers without the backing of a big company and the pirates may well be realising this now.”
The couple were kidnapped as they sailed their yacht from the Seychelles towards Tanzania. Pirates spotted them and boarded the boat as the couple slept. They are believed to be hidden somewhere in Somalia.

Pirates demand to be paid expense for British couple (garoweonline)
Somali pirates holding British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage are only demanding to be paid expenses.
According to their spokesman, the couple is in dire need of medication but could only be freed when the captors receive money to their expenses.
“We can’t free the couple because we incurred a lot of expense while holding them, we want to be paid back,” said a spokesman who requested not to be named. 
He however expressed fear that the health situation of Mrs Chandler has deteriorated and wants urgent medical assistance. 
“Mrs Chandler health condition has deteriorated due to malnutrition. She can’t even walk for a minute. She needs urgent medication,” he claimed. 
The couple, Paul Chandler and his wife Rachel, was vacationing in the Indian Ocean in the middle of the piracy peak season, when their 38-foot yacht, Lynn Rival, came under pirate attack in October 23. Their empty yacht was later located in the international waters off Somalia. 
Their captors had earlier threatened to kill the couple if their original demands were not met. They haven’t harmed the couple since and the demands have significantly been reduced in recent communications.
Somalis, especially those in the UK have been in the fore front to campaign for the release of the couple.

The first duty of a government is to protect its people by Scott Alexander Young (true/slant)
…Whatever the cost. 
Your correspondent, who in general keeps things light on his page, is a migrant to the shores of the UK. Certain old fashioned notions of hospitality rally against complaining about one’s hosts. But the case of the British couple captured over 100 days ago by Somali pirates, and still in captivity, mitigates against such niceties. 
Which is to say, what the ****ing hell is going on in this country, when its government, seem to be doing sweet **** all to rescue Paul and Rachel Chandler? These are the admittedly rather foolish, retirement age couple, who have been in the hands of Somali pirates since sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania, a stretch of water notoriously ‘infested’ with Pirates. (Speaking in fluent Journalese there.) 
Her Majesty’s Government can, apparently, afford billions of pounds sponsoring adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the case of the Chandlers however, the best the Foreign Office can do is to say it is ‘monitoring the situation’ and to issue statements ‘calling for the release’ of the Chandlers. Oh yes, and of course the usual tripe about not negotiating with terrorists. Right, like in future they should just deal with nice people. 
Somehow a crew from French news agency AFP was able to track down and interview the traumatized and emaciated couple, but MI5, MI6, the SAS and whoever else, can’t put a stop to the Chandler’s nightmare. Their plight doesn’t even seem to be making the headlines any more. The last time the Graunian had anything to say about them was January 31st, the Torygraph on February 5th. It’s hard for me to believe the British people have lost either their common sense, or decency, but perhaps their government and the fourth estate have. Something, quite clearly, ought to be done.


—-  news from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships as well as seafarers and vessels in distress  —-    

The security authorities in Yemen’s eastern province of Hadramout received an alert about the murder of Yemeni fisherman Muhammad Khal BaWazeer while the pirates tried to take over a Yemeni boat off Somali coast, the ministry said. 
The boat, so-called al-Shura, left Alshehr city on February 20 with 9 fishermen onboard. 
The fate of the boat and the other fishermen is still unclear, the ministry said, adding that an investigation is underway. 
In western Yemen, Coastguard said that nine Yemeni fishermen had arrived in Midy port, Hajjah, after they had been released by Eritrean authorities. 
Eritreans intercepted the fishermen while hunting in international waters in the Red Sea and they have been in their custody with their boat for more than 20 days, according to the fishermen.

The ship saved by US Navy is registered in Zanzibar by Abdulwakil Saiboko (DailyNews)
A Tanzania-flagged ship rescued by the US Navy from pirates attack in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week was registered in Zanzibar last year, officials said today.
The Zanzibar Ships Registrar, Abdallah Mohammed told the ‘Daily News’ over the phone this noon that the owners of the tanker, MV Barakaale 1, are a Djiboutian and a Briton. He, however, declined to disclose their names. 
“The ship got its provisional registration here in June, last year with registration No. 300027. 
“It is jointly owned by two men and it has not made any trip to Zanzibar since it was registered. We expect it back for extension of its registration which expires this month,” he said. 
The registrar said that none of the ship’s crew is Zanzibaris adding that the laws do not bar foreigners from registering their ships in Isles and does not even force them to operate in the country. 
“In this industry only a flag can identify the ship. We are however doubtful on the news over its attack by pirates because neither the owners nor the US Navy has made any official communication to us so far,” he said. 
Mr Mohammed added that his office was not even aware on the whereabouts of the ship saying efforts were being made to get in touch with the crew of the ship. 
The Deputy Minister for Defence and National Service, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday that the Tanzania Navy was still studying the matter. 
The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) Public Affairs Manager, Mr David Mziray, also said that the matter was still under investigation. 
On Tuesday, the US Embassy said in a statement that on February 21, the USS Farragut, a United States warship, deterred an attack by suspected Somali pirates on the ship. 
About a week ago, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Mr Bernard Membe, rejected a plea to set up the special court in Tanzania for trial of piracy suspects, saying that the government needed to study the proposal. 
On Tuesday, US military sources based in Bahrain, UAE, said that the MV Barakaale 1 signalled for help from the international anti-pirate task force after pirates tried to board the vessel from a skiff. 
Information had it that in response to a distress call from the Barakaale’s Master, an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter from the USS Farragut disrupted two attempts to attack the Tanzanian vessel. 
The embassy statement further explained that the American destroyer, USS Farragut, dispatched a helicopter that chased the pirate skiff, firing warning shots across its bow that brought it to a halt. 
Military sources further said that sailors from the USS Farragut then boarded the pirate vessel and detained all eight men on board. 
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam yesterday issued a statement saying that they have been co-operating with the Tanzanian government since the ship was rescued. 
The statement said that it was not true that the embassy acted unilaterally in communicating to the media because a diplomatic note was sent to the government on the matter.
The statement said the Chief of the Mission, Larry Andre Jr. and Head of the Embassy’s Political and Economic Section, Carl Fox met on February 21 with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to brief them on the matter

STRANGE SHIPS (saf/ecoterra)
There are strange ships operating with Tanzania and Zanzibar links.
Not only was the U.S. Navy reluctant to report the attack on a coastal oil products tanker in time, but it also becomes obvious with this case that the smuggling of petroleum products along the East African coast is still lucrative, despite the recent crackdown by the Tanzanian government on the sales of illicit fuel in the country.  
The said Tanzanian oil tanker MT BARAKAALE I which was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden last week at position 16°30′N–058°50′E around 190nm off Oman is sailing under a suspicious flag.
The 1984 built small MotorTanker BARAKAALE I with a tonnage of 3204 dwt is still listed in the shipping registers as sailing under Cambodian flag. Information indicates that her owners are Cambodian based ISMAN ABDI IGUEH and her port of registry is Phnom Penh. Furthermore her ISM manager is listed as UNKNOWN and the crew of the vessel is not covered by an ITF agreement.
This is one of many strange ships flying Tanzania , Zanzibar or Kenyan flags. 
In August 2008 a strange Zanzibar-flagged ship IOANNA, which is the original Greek ferry name with which is it was delivered to Zansibar, sailed in and out of Mombasa port under mysterious circumstances – always heading to Mtwara en-route to Madagascar. The broker was Mohamed Sheikh of Willowship Agencies, Mombasa. The vessel is reported now to do the Zanzibar-Dar es Salaam run under the name of MV HAPPY 1. Her name, call sign and the IMO number are wanting and questionable. Strangely with all the irregularities she was allowed to sail out to sea.
MT BASTURD (Interesting name) currently operating in Djibouti is flying a strange Zanzibar flag too.
Two strange “Mogadishu”-flagged cargo ships the MV Jidsan and MV Fadhill Rabbi, often represented by Splash Shipping / Hatayan / Dolphin Agencies etc. with offices in Mombasa, Kisumu and Somalia are operating in this region under suspicious flags. These two cargo ships are owned and managed by Somali businessmen. 
The call sign, port of registry and the IMO numbers of these vessels are also questionable and wanting. 
In 2007 Somali coastguards captured two Tanzanian flagged Korean owned fishing vessels FV Mavuno 1 and FV Mavuno 2. The crew members were comprised of 10 Chinese, 3 Vietnamese, 4 Koreans, 4 Indonesians and 3 Indians. The were no Tanzanian nationals on board these two fishing vessels, but information indicates that the owners of the vessels were based in Dar es Salaam. 

Tanzanian authorities say ship saved from pirates registered in Zanzibar by Edwin Agola (TheGuardianTZ)
A Tanzania ship rescued from Somali pirates on Monday [22 February] by a coalition warship was registered in Zanzibar, Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) has said.
Sumatra Senior Public Relations Manager David Mziray said yesterday that the authority was still sorting out details about the ship before giving out a comprehensive report.
“Sumatra in collaboration with police and other stakeholders are trying to get in touch with marine safety officers on the ground and will issue a statement,” said Mziray in a telephone interview.
Acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ambassador Begum Taji said they too were relying on information from Sumatra and the police before giving their statement on new developments to the issue.
“For now we have nothing substantial to offer, but will do so once we get a report from Sumatra and police because they are more conversant with the incident,” said Taji.
An international taskforce warship on Monday foiled an attempt by Somalia pirates to attack a Tanzanian ship in the Gulf of Aden, apprehending eight suspects.
A statement released by US embassy in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday indicated that US warship deterred an attack on a Tanzania- flagged ship – MV Barakaale 1, and apprehended the pirates suspected in the attack while responding to a distress call from the Barakaale’s Master.
Combined Task Force 151 is part of Combined Martine Forces which patrols more than 8.6 million squire kilometres of intentional waters to conduct both integrated and coordinated operations with a common purpose to increase the security and prosperity of the region the statement said.
Tanzania Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe last week told heads of diplomatic missions that Tanzanians and other East Africa Community partner states were contemplating amendments to their laws to provide for the prosecution of Somalia pirates in local courts.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since the toppling of President Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991.
Years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and diseases have led to the deaths of up to one million people.
Comprising a former British protectorate and an Italian colony Somalia was created in 1960 when the two territories merged but it has known little social and economic development since.
For quite time now huge numbers of ships have been seized off the Somalia coast by daring Somalia pirates operating on the high seas.
The world’s major powers have responded by increasing their naval presence in the area thus the numbers of successful attacks have been reduced by 40 per cent.
In an interview the BBC Swahili Service on Tuesday morning minister Membe said piracy incidents off the Gulf of Aden were threatening to scare off ships destined for Tanzania and that was likely to affect the landlocked countries which depended on Dar es Salaam port.
(*) Text of report entitled “Rescued Tanzanian ship was registered in Zanzibar” published by Tanzanian newspaper The Guardian website

Pirates release tanker (Fairplay)
EU NAVFOR confirmed Friday the release of M/V Pramoni, which was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on 1 January. 
The Singapore-flagged chemical tanker of 20,000dwt has been anchored off the pirate stronghold of Eyl, Royal Navy Commander John Harbour, EU NAVFOR’s spokesman, told Fairplay. A ransom was dropped by parachute this morning, but there was no word on the amount or the crew’s status. 
The EU anti-pirate force said it is continuing to monitor the situation. Pramoni has 24 crew members, from China, India, Nigeria and Vietnam. 
Pramoni’s owner is subject to speculation but thought to be the private company Pramoni Maritime. Norway’s Platou Finance denied being the owner in January but did tell Fairplay that it is the ship’s corporate manager and set up the company that owns Pramoni but has no involvement in its operation. 
Harbour also said that 35 warships now patrol the gulf. Operation Atalanta’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program and to protect vulnerable ships in the gulf and Indian Ocean.
[N.B.: According to information from the ground, the actual release only happened at 19h00 local time and not earlier.]
M/V PRAMONI Now Released (eu)

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 6 seized foreign vessels (8 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 140 crew members plus now the lorry crews (incl. 5 Filipinos onboard two vessels: two on board the Thai Union 3 and three on board the MV St. James Park; as well as the British sailing couple) are accounted for. The cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed too. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases for Somalia and the mistaken sinking of one sea-jacked fishing vessel and killing of her crew by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. 
For 2010 the recorded account stands at 17 attacks resulting in 5 sea-jackings. 
The naval alliances had since August 2008 and until January 2010 apprehended 666 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for prosecution 367,  killed 47 and wounded 22 Somalis. (New independent update see: http://bruxelles2.over-blog.com/pages/_Bilan_antipiraterie_Atalanta_CTF_Otan_Russie_Exclusif-1169128.html). 
Not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (although not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail – like the S/Y Serenity, MV Indian Ocean Explorer.Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: ORANGE / IO: ORANGE (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon. Starting from mid February until early April every year an increase in piracy cases can be expected. 
For further details and regional information see the Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor at www.australia.to 

—————- directly piracy, abduction, mariner or naval upsurge related reports ——————–
 

——– ecology, ecosystems, marine environment, IUU fishing and dumping, UNCLOS ———— 

Pirates Threaten Lives and Livelihoods of Yemeni Fishermen by Heather Murdock (VOA)
Since an international armada arrived in the Gulf of Aden last year to fight piracy, the combined navies have had some success in protecting commercial ships.  But piracy remains a huge problem and traditional Yemeni fishermen, who catch most of the country’s fish exports, say pirates have cut their business in half and threatened their lives. On a day to day basis, some say the international forces are also a threat. 
Every morning on the humid shores of Yemen’s south coast, traditional fishermen load their colorful thin boats with nets, cages and string. It takes only a couple of men to push the small boats off the beach and into the Gulf of Aden. Sometimes they stay out fishing all night.
These days many fishermen say their income has been cut in half. Three years ago, there were about 10 pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden, now there are more than 100 a year.  Fishermen say it is no longer safe for them to venture into distant waters, or fish off the nearby coast of Somalia.
In November, three Yemeni fishermen were kidnapped by a gang of Somali pirates with AK-47s. Fishermen say pirates locked them up, beat them, and then tossed them into the gulf, far from their home shores. Three days later, naked and bleeding, they were found alive, and returned to their families. Fowzi Gaber, a Yemeni fisherman, says the memory of this attack has other fishermen scared to travel more then 20 miles off shore. “They came while they were sleeping. They’ve taken two barrels and they’ve taken a piece of wood. They roped it, and they dropped them. They’ve taken all equipment,” he said.
About a year ago, almost every major power in the world sent naval forces into the Gulf of Aden to thwart this new breed of Somali pirates. They are high tech – equipped with rocket propelled grenades and global positioning devices – and found easy pickings in the gulf, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
This did not decrease the number of attacks in the gulf, but it must have scared off some pirates, because the rate of increase slowed dramatically in 2009. In some neighboring waterways, however, the number of attacks by Somali pirates quadrupled. And piracy attacks worldwide have increased by almost 30 percent, mostly from Somalia.
Somali pirates are now holding seven ships and 158 crew members hostage.
But for Yemeni fishermen, it is not just pirates that have made the gulf a dangerous place to make a living. The international forces often mistake fishermen for pirates. They say they have been searched, kidnapped, detained, and killed. Some say the forces meant to stop the pirates are as scary as the pirates.
Fowzi estimates that as many as 4 million of Yemen’s 25 million people are fishermen. But the Head of the Fishing Association, Hashem Rabee, says, the impact of traditional fishing on Yemen’s economy is impossible to gage.
Rabee says for every fisherman, there are about six people counting on that income. For generations of Yemeni families, a small boat and a fishing net is the only way they know how to survive.
 

A century of whaling may have released more than 100 million tonnes – or a large forest’s worth – of carbon into the atmosphere, scientists say.
Whales store carbon within their huge bodies and when they are killed, much of this carbon can be released. 
US scientists revealed their estimate of carbon released by whaling at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, US. 
Dr Andrew Pershing from the University of Maine described whales as the “forests of the ocean”. 
Dr Pershing and his colleagues from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute calculated the annual carbon-storing capacity of whales as they grew. 
“Whales, like any animal or plant on the planet, are made out of a lot of carbon,” he said. 
“And when you kill and remove a whale from the ocean, that’s removing carbon from this storage system and possibly sending it into the atmosphere.” 
He pointed out that, particularly in the early days of whaling, the animals were a source of lamp oil, which was burned, releasing the carbon directly into the air. 
“And this marine system is unique because when whales die [naturally], their bodies sink, so they take that carbon down to the bottom of the ocean. 
“If they die where it’s deep enough, it will be [stored] out of the atmosphere perhaps for hundreds of years.” 
Ocean trees
In their initial calculations, the team worked out that 100 years of whaling had released an amount of carbon equivalent to burning 130,000 sq km of temperate forests, or to driving 128,000 Humvees continuously for 100 years. 
Dr Pershing stressed that this was still a relatively tiny amount when compared to the billions of tonnes produced by human activity every year. 
But he said that whales played an important role in storing and transporting carbon in the marine ecosystem. 
Simply leaving large groups of whales to grow, he said, could “sequester” the greenhouse gas, in amounts that were comparable to some of the reforestation schemes that earn and sell carbon credits. 
He suggested that a similar system of carbon credits could be applied to whales in order to protect and rebuild their stocks. 
“The idea would be to do a full accounting of how much carbon you could store in a fully populated stock of fish or whales, and allow countries to sell their fish quota as carbon credits,” he explained. 
“You could use those credits as an incentive to reduce the fishing pressure or to promote the conservation of some of these species.” 
Other scientists said that he had raised an exciting and interesting problem. 
Professor Daniel Costa, a marine animal researcher from the University of California, Santa Cruz, told BBC News: “So many more groups are looking at the importance of these large animals in the carbon cycle. 
“And it’s one of those things that, when you look at it, you think: ‘ This is so obvious, why didn’t we think of this before?’.” 
Is bigger better?
Dr Pershing pointed out that whales, with their huge size, were more efficient than smaller animals at storing carbon. 
He used the analogy of a small dog compared to a large dog. 
“My wife’s 6lb (2.7kg) toy poodle eats one cup of food per day and my dog – a 60lb standard poodle – eats five cups of food per day,” he said. 
“That’s only five times as much food but my dog weighs ten times as much.” 
He said that the marine carbon credit idea could be applied to other very large marine animals, including endangered bluefin tuna and white sharks. 
Dr Pershing said: “These are huge and they are top predators, so unless they’re fished they would be likely to take their biomass to the bottom of the ocean [when they die].”

————————— anti-piracy measures ———————————

EU NAVFOR Somalia – OPERATION ATALANTA Expands Its Mission On Piracy (eu/mschoa)

[N.B.: Do the Spanish neo-Conquistadores and their European comrades in naval arms actually realize that they tackle here the rights of a sovereign state ? Neither the UN Security Council resolutions, which claim but can not proof that they are based on the consent or demand of the Somali government, nor the clandestine agreement the EU had signed with a meanwhile ousted lawmaker and countersigned by the French Ambassador to Kenya do hold any legal basis and therefore are nil and void, while the Somali Parliament has never agreed or consented to any of these agreements.]

Hackers accuse Latvia of selling arms to Somali pirates (RT)
An organization of hackers has published online copies of documents, which they claim prove that Latvia supplied arms to Somalia in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.
The Security Council imposed an embargo on supplying arms to the African nation in 1992 due to the lack of stability and ongoing violence in Somalia. 
The group 4ATA, or People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening, alleges that the arms have ended up in the hands of the notorious Somali pirates, reports Latvian newspaper Telegraf. 
No official comment on the accusations has come so far. Latvia is a EU member.

Whistleblower website back online after Microsoft withdraws complaint (RT)
US whistleblower website Cryptome is up and running again, after a complaint by Microsoft saw it taken offline. Microsoft alleged it had posted a document classified for law enforcement agency use only.
The company then asked internet managers to block Cryptome – shutting it down – before later relenting and allowing it back on-line.
Cryptome’s owner says the US government was behind the complaint. 
“They haven’t found a way to shut us down, that is why they are using a subterfuge like copyright. And this is part of the worldwide phenomenon to clamp down on the Internet using copyright and a variety of other civil means, rather than openly doing it by law enforcement,” John Young says.
The most proficient whistleblower website WIKILEAKS published on 24. Feb. 2010:
Cryptome.org takedown: Microsoft Global Criminal Compliance Handbook
Cryptome.org is a venerable New York based anti-secrecy site that has been publishing since 1999. On Feb 24, 2010, the site was forcably taken down following its publication Microsoft’s “Global Criminal Compliance Handbook”, a confidential 22 page booklet designed for police and intelligence services. The guide provides a “menu” of information Microsoft collects on the users of its online services. Microsoft lawyers threatened Cryptome and its “printer”, internet hosting provider giant Network Solutions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA was designed to protect the legitimate rights of publishers, not to conceal scandalous internal documents that were never intended for sale. Although the action is a clear abuse of the DMCA, Network Solutions, a company with extensive connections to U.S. intelligence contractors, gagged the site in its entirety. Such actions are a serious problem in the United States, where although in theory the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press, in practice, censorship has been privatized via abuse of the judicial system and corporate patronage networks.

New EU NAVFOR Force Headquarters prepared to take-over in April (eu) The designated Swedish Force Commander and his multinational staff have now completed the Joint Mission Preparation (JMP) at EU NAVFOR Operational Headquarters in Northwood in readiness for taking over from the Italian FHQ in April. 
“This week has been excellent and we have got invaluable inputs from our friends at the Operational Headquarters”, says designated Force Commander Rear Admiral (LH) Jan Thornqvist. 
“I also would like to mention the video-conference with the present Force Commander Rear Admiral Gumiero, who now is aboard Italian ship ETNA in the Indian Ocean.  That was also a very fruitful part in the programme”, Admiral Thornqvist adds. 
In total 26 officers from Sweden Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, and Spain  gathered in Northwood for a week of preparation. Besides having operational briefings the future FHQ officers had the opportunity to work together with their “opposite numbers” in the Operational staff. 
During the visit to Northwood Admiral Thornqvist was invited to NATO Maritime Component Command where he met the Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Hans-Jochen Witthauer, his chief of staff Rear Admiral Hank Ort and the designated Force Commander for NATO Task Force 508, Commodore Steve Chick. Since Task Force 508 also operates off the coast of  Somalia there will be regular contact between Commodore Chick and Admiral Thornqvist, who said this meeting reaffirmed the close cooperation between EU NAVFOR and NATO. 
Sweden contribution to EU NAVFOR will be an Ocean patrol vessel (OPV), HMS Carlskrona, which will also host the Force Headquarters. Transfer of authority, from the now Italian-led FHQ to Swedish Rear Adm (LH) Thornqvist and his staff, is scheduled for 14 April.

Admirals Lost At Sea (strategypage)
The U.S. Navy has hundreds of destroyers, frigates and amphibious ships it can apply to the Somali situation. But many other nations want to get involved in protecting the quarter of the worlds shipping traffic that passes Somalia each year, so the U.S. Navy has not been able to pile on. Just as well, as the current rules of (non) engagement would just frustrate more American sailors.The U.S. Navy has also built a large force of naval infantry over the last five years. These brown water sailors saw some action in Iraq, but are not being prepped for any duty on the Somali coast. 
The asymmetrical warfare the navy has long prepared for turns out to be controlled more by the State Department and international public opinion, than any wily foe. Then again, many naval officers consider the State Department and international public opinion just more hostile, and wily, foes that have to be dealt with. But right now, the diplomats, spin masters and pirates are winning.
The U.S. Navy has been embarrassed by the Somali pirate situation. After a decade of preparing for “littoral warfare,” the navy finds itself largely winless in its first major littoral campaign. The piracy situation in Somalia is basically unwinnable as long as no nation wants to put troops ashore to shut down the coastal pirate bases (about eight of them). So risk (or bad PR) averse are the navies that even killing pirates is avoided (and rarely done). Pirates are not even prosecuted in most cases, just disarmed, fed, given medical treatment, and released.

Spain will lead an EU mission to train the security forces of Somalia (barcelonareporter)
Minister Chacon has done a review of the agenda discussed during these two days with ministers of defence in the EU, including the status of ongoing missions such as the Atalanta operation to combat piracy off Somalia and Operation Althea, Bosnia.
Spain will lead an EU mission to train the security forces of Somalia.
Defense Minister, Carme Chacon, has announced that the EU will launch a training mission of the security forces of Somalia, that will be lead by Spain. The defence minister told reporters at the outset of the informal meeting of defence ministers of the EU to be held in Palma de Mallorca.
Chacon has done a review of the agenda discussed during these two days with ministers of defence in the EU, including the status of ongoing missions such as the Atalanta operation to combat piracy off Somalia and Operation Althea, Bosnia. 
As regards ‘Atalanta’ the Minister has expressed her satisfaction with the results achieved, as currently one in six attempts ends in abduction, compared with previous data that were double those figures. However, “we can improve” and therefore the EU is to implement a series of measures, including control over the ports of origin of the pirates. 
The EU aims to train up to 2,000 members of the security forces of Somalia with the aim of stabilizing the country and campaign to combat piracy in the area. 
Defence Ministers also muted the creation of a European rapid reaction force based on the so-called Battle Groups, which can respond to humanitarian disasters such as occurred in Haiti. These groups would act as a jointly coordinated civic-military force the minister pointed out.

The Indian Navy’s Agenda for Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean by Vijay Sakhuja
The 2010 U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review noted that “India has already established its worldwide military influence through counter-piracy, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief efforts. As its military capabilities grow, India will contribute to Asia as a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond” (Hindustan Times, February 3). India’s Navy, however, has backed away from suggestions that it might take a dominant role in establishing security in the Indian Ocean, according to Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, who states “India has no intention of playing a headmaster’s role in the Indian Ocean Region” (Press Trust of India, February 5; The Hindu, February 6). The Indian Navy is instead seeking a cooperative regional approach to maritime security, as embodied in its recent participation in regional naval exercises and its upcoming Malabar war-games with U.S. naval forces in April and May.
Earlier this month, the Indian navy hosted the seventh biennial Milan-2010 exercises in the seas around the Bay of Bengal’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where eight Asia-Pacific navies (Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, along with observers from Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand) had gathered (Andaman Chronicle, February 3). The agenda at this naval congregation included discussions on maritime terrorism, piracy, and a seminar on humanitarian aid and disaster relief (Press Trust of India, February 5). Afterwards the participating navies conducted joint naval exercises focused on sea lane security. 
The Milan series of multinational exercises, held since 1991, was conceptualized to foster closer cooperation and address issues of maritime security among the navies of countries in India’s extended neighborhood of South East Asia and as far away as Australia and New Zealand. Expanding on the Milan series of exercises, the Indian Navy hosted the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) at New Delhi in February 2008 (Indiannavy.nic.in, February 15, 2008). Naval delegations from 29 countries of the Indian Ocean region participated in a symposium that addressed issues of maritime security and cooperative mechanisms, followed by a two-day conclave for the naval chiefs of the participating countries. India is likely to hand over the rotating leadership of IONS to the United Arab Emirates in May (Zeenews.com, December 2, 2009).
Multilateral anti-piracy and counterterrorism exercises are fast gaining currency in the Indian Navy’s operational planning. India has had some previous successes in anti-piracy and counterterrorism operations: 
• In 1988, Indian maritime forces rescued Maldivian cabinet minister Ahmed Mujuthaba when it captured a freighter controlled by Tamil mercenaries in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in the Maldive Islands. [1] 
• In November 1999, the Indian Navy captured the Japanese-owned MV Alondra Rainbow from a group of mostly Indonesian pirates who had seized the vessel. [2] 
• In 2002, after the terrorist attacks in the United States, the Indian Navy provided naval security cover to U.S.-flagged high-value vessels, including nuclear submarines, through the Strait of Malacca, then plagued with pirates and possible terrorists. [3] 
• More recently, an Indian frigate INS Tabar destroyed a Somali pirate “mother-ship” in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 after pirates threatened to open fire on the Indian warship (Ibnlive.in.com, November 19, 2008). [N.B.: As it was established the Indian Navy said it had not received the information that the crew was held hostage on the vessel. 15 innocent seafarers died, one survived while the Somali pirates escaped and like the surviving sailor could tell the harrowing story of that mistaken attack.]
In 2008, however, India was a victim of maritime terrorism when terrorists of the Kashmir-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) attacked Mumbai from the sea (see Terrorism Monitor, November 19, 2009).
The development of interoperability in exercises with foreign navies offers the Indian Navy an important tool in security operations. These exercises assist in developing skills for joint operations to address problems related to piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking, and the smuggling of arms and people.  Interoperability has also facilitated institutionalized cooperative naval exercises with the navies of the United States (Malabar Series), Russia (Indra Series), France (Varuna Series), U.K. (Konkan Series), Australia, Oman, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore and coordinated patrols with Indonesia and Thailand. 
The Indian Navy chief has stated that Milan-2010 does not indicate the creation of a “security bloc” targeted against any other nation, an apparent reference to China, which is very sensitive to multinational naval exercises held by other Asian-Pacific states (Thaindian.com, February 5). Three of the navies observing or participating in Milan-2010 (Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines) belong to nations engaged in territorial disputes with China over the resource-rich Spratly Islands of the South China Sea (Sunday Island Online [Colombo], February 6). 
India has had different responses to multilateral naval and maritime initiatives such as the U.S. proposed Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI – aimed at intercepting weapons of mass destruction being transported by sea) or the “Thousand Ship Navy” concept (TSN – a global maritime partnership designed to protect sea lanes), and the U.N.- sanctioned International Ship and Port Security Code (ISPS – designed to secure sea ports) and Container Security Initiative (CSI – a mechanism for the monitoring and surveillance of  regulatory and safety mechanisms of container cargo). In essence, India supports multilateral initiatives that have been sanctioned by the United Nations and remains averse to any U.S. proposed initiatives, such as the PSI and TSN.
Notes:
[1] “Operation Cactus”, www.bharat-rakshak.com/CONFLICTS/Operation cactus.html.; “Maldives: The Coup that Failed,” Asiaweek, November 18, 1988, pp.37-38.
 [2] Prabhakaran Paleri, Role of the Coast Guard in the Maritime Security of India, (New Delhi: Knowledge World, 2007), p.147; Commodore RS Vasan IN(Retd), “Alondra Rainbow revisited, A Study of related issues in the light of the recent judgment of Mumbai High Court,” South Asia Analysis Group, Paper no.1379, May 13, 2005, www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers14%5Cpaper1379.html. 
[3] Arun Prakash [Former Indian Chief of Naval Staff], From the Crow’s Nest, (New Delhi: Lancer, 2007), p.173.
DOWNLOAD: TM_008_8_01.pdf

————– no real peace in sight yet —————–

Can Sheikh Sharif be in charge of Somalia? by Mahdi Haile (americanchronicle)

Somalia can handle more funds directly: AU by Abdiaziz Hassan (Reuters)
Somalia has made progress restoring state institutions and accountability and its administration can now handle more funds directly, the African Union’s deputy head of mission to Somalia said. 
For nearly two decades, the Horn of Africa nation has had no functional central government and its transitional administration controls only sections of the capital Mogadishu. 
Wafula Wamunyinyi, the deputy special representative for the AU Commission for Somalia, said the government received inadequate direct funding, and that there were still some impediments to them getting more aid. 
“They were working hard in re-establishing state institutions, coordination and implementation of the plans; they are making progress … and taking care of the accountability system,” he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. 
“They are now making progress, working some specific budgets for the first time, and that kind of thing shows there is a direction … Then, donors will release the funds to them eventually.” 
Wamunyinyi said the mission had received more than half the $213 million donors have pledged to help restore Somalia’s security and public services. 
International donors agreed last April to provide the money to help Somalia’s transitional government and the 5,000 AU troops providing security to the government. 
“I think over $120 million … has been directed to trust funds, and some progress has been made on that,” Wamunyinyi said, speaking in his office in the Kenyan capital. 
“The pledges have been flowing until now, I am sure we have received most of the funds.” 
Rebels fighting the transitional government frequently attack the AU troops, who have been able to do little more than protect the city’s air and sea ports, its presidential palace and a few strategic blocks in between. 
Wamunyinyi said more troops from Uganda and Burundi were waiting to be airlifted to bolster their numbers. 
“These two countries will send an additional battalion each. As soon as the logistical arrangements are done, they will move in,” he said. 
He said the AU’s rules of engagement were adequate, and the mission could help the government hold the capital if it decided to push away the rebels. 
“We are not there to fight on behalf of Somalis. If they keep away the insurgents, that would be very good idea, a good step in the right direction.”

Senior official absconds money from Islamist group (Mareeg)
Hizbul Islam former secretary of defense Sheikh Muse Abdi Aralle has absconded money from the Islamist group, sources said on Friday. 
Sheikh Muse Abdi Arale, an outspoken figure of the group has been seen in Khartoum and has reportedly changed his name.
The sources said he has taken 700 thousand US dollars from the rebel group and is currently in Khartoum while he has changed his name into Sheikh Isse. 
Mr. Arale entered Sudan in illegal way as he couldn’t leave from Mogadishu airport where the Somali government controls. 
The move came after the Islamist rebel man met threats coming from other militants.

Somalia to Print New Currency (ezega)
Somalia’s interim government has made agreement with the government of Sudan to mint new Somali Shillings. Somali Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and his Sudanese counterpart, Mr. Awad Ahmed Jazz, signed the agreement in the Sudanese capital Khartoum last month, according to Sudan media reports. 
However, there are also media reports indicating that one of Somalia’s parliamentary leaders has warned the government to bring a motion to parliament first, according Radio Garowe reports. 
The Sudan Minting Company said to have completed preparations for printing currency for Somalia after signing the contract last January. Engineer Mohammed Hassan al-Bahi Director-General of the Company, said that today saw the opening of bids for competition in the supply of rough paper and technical facilities for the printing of the currency, pointing out that five international giant companies from Germany, France, Indonesia, Italy and England that also bid for the contract. 
The Somali Shilling has been severely devalued since the outbreak of the civil war in 1991. Currently, only the 500-Shilling and 1000-Shilling note is accepted at markets across the country. 
Some reports said the new minted currency will include Shilling notes that are lesser than the 500-Shilling note.

It has been a busy six months for the DFID Somalia programme, with our funding increasing to over £23m for 2009/10. Our engagement with civil society has also increased. And we provided £9.5 million to deliver humanitarian relief to the most vulnerable. We continue to seek ways to improve access to health and education for all Somalis. We are designing a new health programme to deliver emergency health care to women and children across Somalia, and support improved delivery of health services by the Somali authorities. We are also building on previous work to increase jobs for young people, make it easier to do business in Somalia, and improve governance. 
We were delighted that so many UK Somali diaspora groups actively participated in the launch events of the new DFID-funded Common Ground Initiative set up to fund diaspora projects in Africa. Applications are currently being considered.
(*) United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) Full_Report (pdf* format – 191.4 Kbytes)

————–  reports, news and views from the global village with an impact on Somalia ——————- 

Somalia MPs face court in Ethiopia over immigration violation (garoweonline)
Arrested Somali officials, including two lawmakers, have been brought before a court in Jigjiga, the administrative capital of Ethiopian-ruled Ogaden Somali region, colleagues report. 
Lawmakers Abdullahi Mohammed Farey and Hussein Gaagale accompanied by unnamed Somali military official were accused of entering the country illegally. 
The officer and the two lawmakers are held in JigJiga. They were on official mission and we heard their arrest this week,” lawmaker Mohammed Hassan told reporters in Mogadishu. 
Top officials of Somalia’s transitional parliament including the deputy Speaker of the interim Somali parliament Osman Elmi Boqorre called on Addis Ababa to release the officials. 
It is the first time the Ethiopian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a stern supporter of Somali TFG, arrest members of the fragile government that was formed one year ago.

American ambassador to leave his post in Kenya in June
According to a source at the US embassy in Nairobi, the American Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, is expected to leave his post in June.

Libya: Kadhafi receives African leaders (Pana) 

The Libyan leader Mouammar Kadhafi on Friday received the leaders of several African countries who called on him in Benghazi after taking part Thursday’s festivities in the city marking the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Mohamed.
The Libyan leader met the Presidents of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai, Central African Republic, Francois Bozizé and Sao Tomé, Fradique de Menzez and the Prime Ministers of Lesotho, Pakilita Mosisisili and of Somalia, Omar A. Sharmake, an official Libyan source said.
The source added that the meetings made it possible to review the process of the African Union (AU) and issues relating to security and peace on the continent.
The Somali official hailed the efforts of Kadhafi and his initiatives to restore peace and stability in Somalia.
The Somali Prime Minister also briefed the Libyan leader on the latest developments in his country.

Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi has called for a jihad, or holy war, against Switzerland, as an ongoing diplomatic row between the two nations heats up.
He criticised a recent Swiss vote against the building of minarets and said Muslims must boycott the country. 
There have been tensions between the nations since 2008, when one of Mr Gaddafi’s sons was arrested in Geneva, accused of assaulting two servants. 
A Swiss foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the jihad call. 
The Libyan leader made his comments while speaking at a meeting to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. 
“Let us wage jihad against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression,” he said. 
“Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Muhammad, God and the Koran.” 
In a referendum last November, 57.5% of Swiss voters approved a constitutional ban on the building of minarets. An appeal against the ban has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. 
Charges dropped
Earlier this month, Libya stopped issuing visas to citizens from many European nations, prompting condemnation from the European Commission. 
Libya’s move came after Switzerland allegedly blacklisted 188 high-ranking Libyans, denying them entry permits. The Swiss ban is said to include Mr Gaddafi and his family. 
The row began after the arrest of Mr Gaddafi’s son Hannibal and his wife, Aline Skaf, in Geneva in July 2008. 
They were accused of assaulting two servants while staying at a luxury hotel in the Swiss city, though the charges were later dropped. 
Libya retaliated by cancelling oil supplies, withdrawing billions of dollars from Swiss banks, refusing visas to Swiss citizens and recalling some of its diplomats.

Talking-Cure Diplomacy by Carlo Strenger (*) (TheNewYorkTimes)
LAST month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton caused a stir with remarks that at first glance seemed a restatement of the obvious — namely, that the 1967 borders between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, along with some land swaps, should be the focus of peace negotiations. In fact, since 1993, when the Oslo agreements were signed, the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been clear: a return to the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and, most likely, some form of international involvement in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Why the stir? Because to Mrs. Clinton and the Obama administration, this all seems like a matter of a few simple steps. The American envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has said as much, asserting that a final agreement must — and can — be reached within two years. Bill Clinton made the same assumption with the Camp David and Taba summit meetings of 2000 and 2001, which he seemed to think could end the conflict quickly. Needless to say, he failed.  
The basic problem is that, like Bill Clinton, the Obama administration believes that the two sides are essentially rational, acting in their own best interests, and that to get the process unstuck the mediator must simply bridge their differences. Rather, it is clear to me as a psychologist that the two sides are steeped in collective trauma, for which the only prescription is diplomatic therapy.  
The trauma is mutual and multilayered. The Palestinians have never been able to mourn what they call the Nakba, the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948. Their ethos of national liberation was based on the idea that all refugees would be able to return to their homes in Jaffa, Ramle and Lod. Letting go of this dream, a condition for the two-state solution, requires a process of mourning that has been made almost impossible by the humiliation of the occupation and the force of Israeli retaliation, culminating in the Gaza war last year.  
Trauma is not the Palestinians’ alone: Israeli Jews live under a fear of annihilation that overshadows any consideration of compromise. Many critics of Israel believe that such a statement is a cheap ploy to justify colonial ambitions, but right or wrong this is the reality of the country’s collective psyche. Israelis still look back at the attacks by Arab armies in 1948, 1967 and 1973 as moments when they could have been wiped out, and this fear is revived today by the possibility of Iran’s acquiring nuclear weapons.  
Hope for peace was dealt further blows by the suicide bombings of the 1990s, during the heyday of the Oslo process; the second intifada; and the rocket attacks from Gaza after Israel’s withdrawal from the territory in 2005. Behind all this lies the memory of the Holocaust.  
Worse, the Middle East’s cultural unconscious is structured by the history of monotheistic religions, with Jerusalem at the center. The city has been conquered countless times, always in the name of the eternal rightness of one religion or another. These same forces are present today in Israel’s ideological right and in Islamic extremist groups like Hamas.  
The region’s collective traumas may easily lead one to conclude that the situation is hopeless. But the peace process stands a chance if it is seen not as a rational intervention but as a course of therapy that will allow both sides to work through emotional aspects of their traumas, dreams and shattered hopes.  
First, instead of a timetable, negotiators need to leave the process open-ended. As in Northern Ireland, the sponsoring parties, presumably the members of the so-called quartet — the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States — should maintain a permanent peace conference that will convene until an agreement is reached. And the quartet needs to find ways to engage all parties in the region, most of all the Arab League, but also Hamas and possibly, at some point, Iran.  
Second, the process must give room to emotions, which are likely to run high. Too often these are repressed by diplomatic protocol, assumed to be irrelevant or even counter-productive. On the contrary, such repression undercuts the possibility of forward movement. 
It won’t be easy. Accusations will run from the latest cease-fire breach to the massacres of Palestinians in Deir Yassin in 1948 and the Coastal Road Massacre of Israelis in 1978. At times, theological claims over Jerusalem’s Old City will return on both sides.  
Still, it is essential that emotions finally be given vent. An open-ended process would allow Palestinians to voice their rage and pain about what they have gone through and to express their need for Israel to recognize its part in the Nakba. In the same way patients progress by talking about their traumas, a therapeutic process may lead the Palestinians to realize that they have not just been passive victims, that they have made decisions, ranging from rejection of the American partition plan in 1947 to the use of suicide bombers since the 1990s, that have driven back the possibility of peace.  
Likewise, Israel’s Jews need to be able to voice their fear that Arabs will never accept the existence of Israel, and that the two-state solution is just a step toward its destruction. Therapeutic diplomacy will help them gradually accept their share of the responsibility for the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948. In this way both parties can come to realize that accepting the other’s narrative and point of view does not mean annihilation.  
Mr. Mitchell knows this type of process well from his time in Northern Ireland. The question is whether the administration is willing to take on this challenge for the long haul. If it isn’t, we are in for another series of failed negotiations and the inevitable bloodshed that follows.   (*) Carlo Strenger is the chairman of the clinical graduate psychology program at Tel Aviv University and the author of “The Designed Self.”

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We do not send pictures with these reports, because of the volume, but picture this emetic scene with your inner eye:
A dying Somali child in the macerated arms of her mother besides their bombed shelter with Islamic graffiti looks at a fat trader, who discusses with a local militia chief and a UN representative at a harbour while USAID provided GM food from subsidised production is off-loaded by WFP into the hands of local “distributors” and dealers – and in the background a western warship and a foreign fishing trawler ply the waters of a once sovereign, prosper and proud nation, which was a role model for honesty and development in the Horn of Africa. (If you feel that this is overdrawn – talk to people who lived in Somalia in the 70s and 80s and come with us into Somalia and see the even more cruel reality today for yourself!) 
- and if you need lively stills or video material on Somalia, please do contact us.   

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