22/10/08 (B470-B) Des hommes armés libèrent un navire indien qui avait été arraisonné par les pirates (3 dépêches Anglais et Français)

___________________________ XINHUA (En Français)

Les forces somaliennes libèrent un boutre indien dans les eaux somaliennes

Les forces de sécurité somaliennes ont réussi à libérer, au moyen de la force, un boutre indien qui avait été détourné par des pirates et qui transportait du sucre pour les hommes d’affaires somaliens, quelques heures après l’annonce de son détournement, ont annoncé mardi des officiels.

Les forces ont pu appréhender quatre des pirates, alors que quatre autres se sont échappés après la fusillade qui a éclaté entre les pirates et les forces locales, a rapporté Ali Abdi Aware, officiel local.

Le boutre, qui venait d’Inde, se dirigeait vers le port de Berbera dans le nord-ouest de la Somalie, a déclaré aux journalistes Liban Mohamed Yusuf, homme d’affaires local, à qui appartient la plupart des marchandises à bord du navire.

Aucun des 13 membres d’équipage du bateau n’a été blessé dans cette opération.

La semaine dernière, les forces avaient également réussi à libérer un navire transportant des marchandises pour des entrepreneurs locaux.

Plus tôt dans la journée de mardi, Andrew Mwangura du Programme d’assistance aux marins en Afrique de l’est avait annoncé qu’il était possible qu’un navire reliant l’Asie à la Somalie ait été détourné par des hommes armés ce week-end.

___________________________ BBC (En Anglais)

Somalia frees hijacked cargo ship

Peter Greste

The Somali coast is the most dangerous in the world for piracy
Security forces in northern Somalia have raided and freed an Indian ship hijacked by pirates, capturing four of the hijackers in a gun battle.

Pirates had boarded the ship sailing up the Somali coast from Asia, despite the presence of a flotilla of warships sent to the region to clamp down on piracy.

The crew of 13 were freed unharmed from the vessel.

Dozens of ships have been seized this year in the busy shipping lanes along the Gulf of Aden and close to Somalia.

The authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia said their forces raided the Indian ship soon after pirates attacked over the weekend.

They said they had captured four of the hijackers in a shootout, while four more escaped.

The ship was the 30th to be taken by pirates this year – most were freed after their owners paid hefty ransoms but ten are still being held, most notably the MV Faina – a Ukrainian ship loaded with 33 tanks and ammunition headed for Kenya.

A Russian guided missile frigate is steaming through the Suez Canal to join an international flotilla of warships that have surrounded the Faina to stop the pirates from unloading its cargo.

Nato has sent ships to support US navy vessels already there, while India and several European countries have said they will also mount anti-piracy patrols.

The Somali coast is still the most dangerous in the world for piracy, but international patience seems at its limit.

____________________________ Press TV ( En Anglais)

Somali gunmen free seized Indian dhow

Pirates are still holding arms-laden Ukranian MV Faina, seized on September 25.
Gunmen from Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland have freed a hijacked Indian dhow and its crew pirated off the northern Somali coast.

The gunmen acting as freelance coast guards attacked the pirates capturing four of them in the ensuing gunbattle, AP quoted a regional minister Tuesday.

Ali Abdi Aware, the foreign minister of Puntland region, said none of the 13 crewmembers onboard were harmed in the fighting.

Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said earlier on Tuesday that the dhow was en route to Somalia from Asia when it came under attack by armed pirates in speedboats.

IMB announced that they only received a distress report on Monday.

The latest attack comes amid international impatience with piracy in Somalia’s notorious waters, and the NATO’s call for cooperation to crack down on the sea bandits.

A NATO task force commanded by US Admiral Mark Fitzgerald was headed towards the region Tuesday to prepare for the onslaught.

Choong said the bureau has issued a warning for ships to maintain a strict watch while crossing the key shipping route.

The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) and the Maritime Union of India warned in a joint statement Tuesday that their members would refuse to sail through the route unless New Delhi took action to ensure their colleagues’ release.

The latest incident raised the number of attacks off the coast of Somalia this year to 74, with 30 ship hijacked.

Choong said nine of the seized vessels are still held by pirates.