Russians Retake Ship and Capture Somali Pirates

[Dr. Cheese]

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/wor...Curr=1&pNext=2

It's getting rough to be a Somali pirate lately.

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/wor...Curr=1&pNext=2

It's getting rough to be a Somali pirate lately.

It really is. They had an interesting piece on NPR yesterday. It seems that piracy is now run by a few powerful warlords and the guys doing the actual work are just expendable independent contractors. Several years ago, the guys boarding the ships were the ones taking home the money. Now they get a pittance from their employer, or a bullet from the spetsnaz. Things are tough all over man!

[bobwhite]

The pirates were to be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges and [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev hinted at tough punishment.

"Perhaps we should get back to the idea of establishing an international court and other legal tools" to prosecute pirates, he said. "Until then, we'll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates."

I love this man. I always thought we and the Russians should somehow develop a way to become close allies....

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Of all the people a pirate wouldn't want to be caught by.

They aren't going to have a good time now . . .

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Of all the people a pirate wouldn't want to be caught by.

They aren't going to have a good time now . . .

No joke.

Something tells me they're magically disappear and Putin will pull one of these:

[Simo98]

In Soviet Russia, Pirates get Pirated!



Sorry

[bassrique]

I was just scratching my head at this the other day.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=10542278

Somali Pirates Flee Stronghold as Islamic Army Enters
Islamist Say They Intend to End Somali Piracy

By DANA HUGHES

NAIROBI, Kenya May 3, 2010—

Somalia's pirates fled their stronghold of Harardhere after an army of Islamic militants entered the city, promising to end piracy and free the pirates' hostages.

The pirate town had been threatened by the army of Al-Shabaab militants, and rather than falling to Shabaab, the town elders reportedly invited a rival group called Hizbul Islam to come into the town and offer them "protection" from Shabaab.

The Associate Press reports that Hizbul Islam incursion on Sunday sent the pirates "fleeing with big screen TVs piled into luxury cars bought with millions of dollars of ransom money."

The report also claims that Hizbul Islam is promising to eliminate piracy in the town and free all foreign hostages.

But there are other reports that the combination of the pirate money and encroaching on Al Shabaab territory are what made Harardhere so attractive to Hizbul Islam.

The rampant piracy of the last few years has yet to be directly tied to the network of Islamic fighters that has been classified by Washington and other western countries as terrorists.

For a long time the two remained separate, divided as much by geography as by ideology. The two have had an uneasy co-existence. While there's little evidence the Islamists are directly involved with piracy, Puntland's Director General Abdiwahid Mohamed Hersi told ABC News that some of the millions of dollars in pirate ransoms end up in Shabaab's hands.

"The pirates pay Shabaab 'taxes' of up to $100,000 on ransom monies," Abdiwahid Mohamed Hersi told ABC News during a recent trip to Somalia.

Shabaab is Somalia's largest Islamist group, and has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaeda along with collaborating with operatives from Afghanistan and Yemen to fight to defeat the country's weak transitional government. Shabaab wants to rule Somalia under strict sharia law.

Hizbul Islam also wants sharia law, but is considered slightly more moderate than its rival. At one time the two worked together, but they split apart last year and the feud has grown increasingly nasty.

In less than 48 hours there have been two bombings of mosques in Shabaab-controlled areas. The first occurred Saturday inside Mogadishu's crowded Bakara market, while worshippers were waiting for noon prayers. At least one high-level Shabaab operative was killed in the blast along with more than 45 other people, according to African Union officials. A mosque in the southern port city of Kismayo, the heart of Shabaab territory, was hit last night killing two people.

Shabaab has blamed "foreign security companies" for the bombings. No-one has claimed responsibility, but it is believed that Hizbul Islam may have played a role in the attacks.

The latest tension between the militant groups comes as the Somali government plans to launch an offensive against Shabaab to take back control of Mogadishu. The current transitional government only controls a few miles of the capital city, and Somalia has not had a functioning federal government in 20 years.

I don't like where this is going [or where it's been].

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by sloasdaylight

No joke.

Something tells me they're magically disappear and Putin will pull one of these:

Naaaaah.

They'll be abducted by aliens

[Hutzbordello]

K'naan talks about this

apparently the pirates used to help people out, and they just wanted to protect the coast line

but then they got greedy and it became all about the money...............balls

[RWP]

I sure hope the Russians are reading them their rights.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by RWP

I sure hope the Russians are reading them their rights.

Yes, I believe a certain Mr. Kalashnikov will be running them through it and providing easy to understand translations!