Feuding Somali politicians seen to fuel piracy

Puntúa la noticia :

Nota de los usuarios: - (0votos)

• M. Continuo
• Empresas y finanzas
• Global

Share

Tweet

elEconomista.es en Twitter

Follow @eleconomistaes

EcoTablet - ¡Gratis en App Store!

La plataforma más completa de información y servicios económicos para iPad.

• Suscribirse al boletín
• Imprimir
• Enviar
• Aumentar texto
• Reducir texto
• Haga doble click sobre una palabra para ver su signifcado
• Sudoku: Juega cada día a uno nuevo
• El tiempo: Consulta la previsión para tu ciudad

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The growth in piracy off Somalia is being aggravated by the country's feuding politicians and the United Nations should send peacekeepers there quickly, the African Union's top diplomat said on Thursday.

Gunmen from the chaotic Horn of Africa country grabbed world headlines with Saturday's spectacular capture of a huge Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with $100 million (67 million pounds) worth of oil, the biggest ship hijacking in history.

Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, said the increasing piracy was "a clear indication of the further deterioration of the situation with far-reaching consequences for this country, the region and ... international community."

Scores of attacks in Somali waters this year have driven up insurance costs for shipping firms, and even made some companies divert cargo around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Forces from NATO, the European Union and elsewhere are trying to protect vessels on one of the world's busiest shipping routes, linking Europe to Asia. Some nations seek a more robust response and say the hijackings will continue without political reconciliation onshore, where an Islamist insurgency rages.

Moscow has suggested international forces should help it attack the pirates' land bases. A Russian news agency said on Thursday that more Russian warships would go to the region.

Speaking during a visit to Ghana late on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance was committed to helping improve security on the continent -- but it expected African states to take the lead in combating piracy.

At an emergency meeting on piracy in Cairo, however, an Egyptian government spokesman said African countries were unable to deal with the attacks and needed foreign intervention.

CRIME WAVE

Since seizing the supertanker Sirius Star, pirates have hijacked at least three other ships, maritime officials say. The tanker's owners are in ransom talks, but Britain warned on Thursday that rewarding the gunmen could create more problems.

"Payments for hostage taking are only an encouragement to further hostage taking," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

The Saudi Arabian tanker was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya -- far beyond the gangs' usual area of operations. It was believed to be anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that is now a well-defended pirate base.

The audacity of the attack underlined the extent of a crime wave that experts say has been fuelled by the Iraq-style Islamist insurgency onshore, dimming hopes for U.N.-led peace talks, and the lure of multi-million-dollar ransoms.

Somali gunmen are believed to be holding more than 200 hostages and about a dozen ships in the Eyl area, including a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33 tanks and other heavy weapons.

An associate of the gang holding that ship, the MV Faina, said they rejected a $2.5 million ransom offer this week.

"The pirates and a broker met in the forest between Galkayo and Haradheere ... but the pirates stood by their demand for $8 million," the associate, Hussein Hassan, told Reuters.

Britain's Miliband said it was vital the international community stand firm against the "scourge" of hostage-taking.

But experts say pessimism over the outlook for Somalia's peace talks, memories of disastrous interventions in the past and the need to deal with emergencies elsewhere have snuffed out will to deal with the chaotic country's deep-seated problems.

PUBLICIDAD

- Recibe nuestros análisis Diarios sobre Divisas, Acciones y Opciones. ¡Apúntate ya! ¡Es GRATIS!

- Opere en más de 8.000 CFDs. Infórmese y obtenga su CFD Trading Guide

- Nuevos spreads en materias primas: Oro tan sólo 0,3 puntos, Plata 0,25, Petróleo 0,35

- Opera desde 2,95 € en tiempo real con Self Bank.