Somali pirates hijack a vessel for WFP (Shabelle.net)

[Eugene]

Last Updated Sun Feb, 25 2007,08:30 am--Mogadishu Somalia

Somali pirates hijack a vessel for WFP

Aweys Osman Yusuf

Mogadishu 25, Feb.07 ( Sh.M.Network) - A group of Somali pirates
has hijacked a contracted ship loaded for the UN World Food
Program (WFP) off the coast of Alula, Northeast Somalia.

WFP spokesperson for Somalia, Saed Warsame, has told Shabelle
by phone from the Kenyan capital Nairobi that pirates hijacked
the vessel after it lastly unloaded about 191 tones of WFP aid
food in Barnbara in Northwest Somalia.

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The semiautonomous regional government of Puntland in
Northeast Somalia has not yet commented the hijacking.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2415.htm

(Associated Press)

Pirates hijack food aid ship off Somali coast, U.N. says

The Associated Press
Published: February 25, 2007

NAIROBI, Kenya: Pirates hijacked a cargo ship delivering U.N.
food aid to northeastern Somalia on Sunday, officials said.

The ship, MV Rozen, had just delivered a total of 1,800 metric
tons (1,884 US tons) of food aid in the semiautonomous region
of Puntland in north eastern Somalia when the pirates struck,
said Stephanie Savariaud, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s World
Food Program.

-snip-

It was not immediately known if any of the 12 crew members
aboard — six from Sri Lanka and six from Kenya — were injured
in the attack.

-snip-

"The pirates have not made any demands yet," said Andrew
Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers
Assistance Program.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/25/africa/AF-GEN-Somalia-Ship-Hijacked.php

[maddezmom]

1. U.S. warship heads for vessel hijacked off Somalia

NAIROBI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. warship is approaching the area off the Horn of Africa where Somali pirates have anchored a hijacked ship carrying U.N. food aid, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Monday.

Gunmen boarded the Kenyan-owned MV Rozen on Sunday, taking hostage its six Kenyan and six Sri Lankan crew after intercepting the freighter by speedboat.

It was the third hijacking of a ship hired to carry relief supplies by the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) in two years.

WFP spokeswoman Penny Ferguson said the world body understood the vessel was now anchored off Bargal, a small port in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region.

"We also understand a U.S. warship is heading to that area but that it is still in international waters," Ferguson said. "There has been no contact yet from the pirates and our biggest concern remains for the safety of the crew."

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26579820.htm

[maddezmom]

2. U.S. navy eyes hijacked Somalia aid ship

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Three Somali police speedboats and a U.S. military vessel were headed Monday toward a U.N.-chartered cargo ship hijacked by pirates, a senior police official said. Piracy has been rampant off the Somali coast.

Somali pirates boarded the MV Rozen — which had just delivered a total of 1,884 tons of food aid in northern Somalia — on Sunday, taking the crew hostage, officials said. It is the third U.N.-chartered ship to be hijacked in Somali waters since 2005.

Police boats were within sight of the ship "but we asked them to stop going further because our biggest concern is the safety of the crew of 12 on board," said Col. Abdi Ali Hagaafe, police chief of the Bari region.

"We have asked the U.S. navy in the Red Sea ... to help us in the operation, and they told us they have started to move towards the ship," he said.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/index.htm

[Eugene]

3. Somali police arrest four ship hijackers -UN (Reuters)

Somali police arrest four ship hijackers -UN
27 Feb 2007 12:26:53 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian

NAIROBI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Somali authorities have arrested four men they said
were members of a gang of pirates who hijacked a ship chartered to carry U.N.
food aid and are still holding the crew, a U.N. agency said on Tuesday.

Gunmen used speedboats to intercept the Kenyan-owned MV Rozen on Sunday,
storming the freighter and taking hostage its six Kenyan and six Sri Lankan crew,
in the first hijacking reported since a December war ousted Islamists from Somalia.

The ship, chartered by the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP), has been anchored
off Bargal, a port in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, since the hijacking.

The WFP said four men were arrested when they went ashore to buy supplies, leaving
four other gang members aboard the ship.

"The arrest is welcome news, but the safe release of the crew and the vessel remains
our chief concern," WFP Somalia's country director Peter Goossens said in a statement.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27210453.htm