07/07/09 (B506-B) Le journal de la Flibuste…. A son tour, la Marine yéménite déjoue des attaques. L’Iran déploie de nouveaux bâtiments sur Zone (2 articles en Français et en Anglais)

________________________ 2 – Shabelle (En Anglais)

La marine yéménite a déjoué l’attaque d’un pétrolier de son pays, dans le détroit de Bab El Mander. // Fresh Attack On Yemeni Tanker Foiled

Yemeni marine forces have thwarted an attempt by pirates to attack a national oil tanker in the Red Sea, days after the forces foiled an attack against two oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandab strait in the Red Sea*, Yemen news agency (Saba) reported.

Pirates tried to take over the tanker and the marines intervened on time, clashing with the pirates who then fled out of Yemen’s territorial waters, according to Coast Defence.

The tanker continued its voyage to Hodeida safely, a source at the Coast Defence added.

On Saturday, two pirate boats intercepted two Yemeni oil tankers trying to hijack them but Yemeni marine troops intervened and battled the pirates.

Last month, a Yemeni oil tanker escaped a pirate attack off the Makha port in the Red Sea.

Somali pirates intercepted the tanker and the crew managed to flee them.

Informed sources said that the pirates pursued the tanker, but the latter sent a distress call to the Coast Guards in the area who immediately offered help.

The tanker arrived in the port safely.

In April, three Somali pirates were killed and 12 others were seized after Yemeni marine forces rescued oil tankers which were attacked off the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden.

Yemen has received a number of pirates who were arrested by international forces patrolling the Indian Ocean on anti-piracy mission.

Some pirates have gone on trials.

Last week, 22 African people appeared in an Aden court, with prosecutors accusing some of the group carrying pirate attacks and others of attempting piracy in the region.

Many world countries have recently expressed their concern about soaring piracy off Somali, prompting action by the countries which sent anti-piracy taskforces to the region.

________________________ 1 – Shabelle avec Xinhua (En Anglais)

L’Iran déploie deux navires de guerre supplémentaires dans le Golfe d’Aden pour lutter contre la piraterie. // Iran deploys two more warships to Gulf of Aden to fight pirates

Iran has sent two more warships to the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels, Iran’s English-language satellite channel Press TV reported Tuesday.

Iran’s Deputy Naval Commander Gholam-Reza Khadem was quoted as saying on Monday that the dispatched warships were set to replace aging vessels and protect Iranian merchant containers and oil tankers from Somali pirates.

"Pirates have stepped up attacks on Iranian merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, so we have decided to send two more warships to patrol the area and help keep everything under control," Khadem said.

He said Iran’s decision to join the international fight against piracy in the key shipping-lanes off the coast of Somalia has been "rather positive."

In November last year, Somalian pirates hijacked a Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with 36,000 tons of wheat, which was chartered by an Iranian company, in the Gulf of Aden near the coast of Yemen.

In December, an Iranian warship was sent to the Gulf of Aden in Somalia waters on a mission to protect Iranian ships and fight pirates.

In late June, Iran’s navy prevented an attempt to hijack an Iranian oil tanker by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the official IRNA news agency reported.

According to a report by the Public Relations Department of Iran’s Navy Force, pirates in the Gulf of Aden had planned to hijack an Iranian oil tanker named "Hadi," but Iranian warship arrived in the scene on time to rescue it, IRNA said.

Each year about 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden, which links Indian Ocean with Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.