French, English and Kenyan Lies About the So Called Somali Piracy Phenomenon

As the misinformation reaches a culmination, the situation across the Horn of Africa gets deteriorated according to the plans of colonial powers willing to turn Somalia into a huge military – naval – air base against present and future, real and prefabricated enemies of Western Europe and Northern America.

In this article, I republish integrally the 28th Ecoterra press release that makes available the latest news and a wide array of comments, analyses and republications.

Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) - XXVIII

Ecoterra International – Updates & Statements, Review & Clearing-house

A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or overseas, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities nor the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act". George Orwell

2009-05-04 12h26:53 UTC

EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia@ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: SMS to +254-738-497979 or call +254-733-633-733

"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream!"

Capt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y Tanit - killed by attack of French commandos - 10. April 2009

Non A La Guerre - Yes To Peace

(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT shot down on day one of the French assault)

None of the various, local or foreign pirate outfits we like to add -

Clearing-house

Breaking:

Une balle française a tué le skipper du "Tanit"

What Ecoterra had maintained al the way along is now confirmed:
French pirate hostage Florent Lemacon was killed by a bullet fired by one of the French marines

Europe 1 reported that the conclusion was based on an autopsy performed on Lemacon as well as testimony by his wife and the marine who fired the fatal shot. According to the report, when the assault on the TANIT began, Lemacon stood to protect his wife and three-year-old son, and was struck by what was described as a 'reflex shot' fired by the marine. Florent Lemacon was thereby killed by a member of the French armed forces during the ill-advised and failed rescue attempt. Lemacon was aboard the TANIT yacht, which had been captured by Somali pirates last month. Special Forces stormed the yacht in order to free the hostages, but Lemacon was hit by a bullet from the commandoes storming the vessel. In a report today, on Monday, Europe1 radio said that Lemacon was hit by a bullet fired by French troops, when they stormed the TANIT on 10 April.

It had been so far maintained as unclear by the French Authorities whether Lemacon was killed by friendly fire or by one of the pirates on board. But also French Defence Minister Herve Morin knew it all the way along and therefore had already early admitted that Lemacon could have been the victim of friendly fire. 'We cannot exclude that, in the exchange of fire between pirates and commandos, the (fatal) shot came from the French side,' Morin said on April 11, the day after the botched rescue. Lemacon apparently was shot as he tried to shield his son. Europe 1 did not reveal its sources in the report, but did say that the findings of the coroner, the account of the assault and the testimony of Lemacon’s wife coincide. The fatal bullet has not been found, but it pierced Lemacon’s hand before hitting him in the face. Insiders of the French Navy believe the attack was pushed also because of the following points.

Key questions (among many others) - while a thorough public investigation is still outstanding - are:

a) Why was the offer and chance to solve the case peacefully through mediation by elders not taken?

b) Had President Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner been properly informed by the Quai d'Orsay of this option?

c) Was the yacht on day one of the attack shot up by fire from the French naval vessel in order to provoke stupid reactions of the already terrified pirates and thereby to provide for reasons to launch the commando assault?

d) What happened with the third pirate shot at on the deck?

e) Where German commandos involved in the attack?

f) French frigate Aconit predominantly, but also frigates Floréal and Commandant Ducuing and German frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern participated in the operation. Under which mandate and in affiliation with which superior command structure (NATO, EUNAVFOR) was any of these naval forces engaged?

g) What do the video-footages taken from the naval vessel as well as the cameras on the helmets and the audio-transcripts of the surveillance reveal?

h) ... and last but not least: Did Florent Lemacon request the naval forces to back off ?

France has just taken over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council on 22nd April and thereby has also a chance to revise the UNSCR resolutions as well as the national policy concerning the security issues around the Horn of Africa. Hopefully France will also finally recognize the 200nm EEZ of Somalia and firmly instruct fishing vessel linked to France in any way to stay out of it.

News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships --------

This morning Inter Gulf Marine, the owners of OSV M/V AL MEEZAN responded and confirmed that their vessel is safely operating outside the pirate zone. This now clarifies that the vessel sea-jacked last Friday and now approaching the Somali coast is MV AL MEZAAN (IMO number: 7906710) a general cargo ship with a gross tonnage of 2086 built 1979 and sailing under the flag of convenience of Panama. The vessel sports as "registered owner" SHAHMIR MARITIME of St Vincent & The Grenadines - another briefcase office -, while BIYAT INTERNATIONAL from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates serves as ship-manager. Only questions remaining: Are there armored vehicles on board as claimed by the pirates and will the Somali businessmen involved be able to get the crew and vessel free as soon as possible? "We decided to free the merchant ship" when it reaches the coast, Muse Salad, a pirate spokesman, said today by telephone to Bloomberg. "The ship carries foodstuffs like rice, flour, sugar and building materials". The vessel was under way from the United Arab Emirates to Mogadishu when it was seized, Ali Mohamed Siyad, a market traders’ chief at Bakara, Somalia, said by telephone. The crew is Asian, including Indians, and the cargo is owned by Somali businesspeople, he said.

MV SEA HORSE, the vessel briefly seized by pirates in three skiffs east of Mogadishu and released within 5 days for no ransom (just facilitation money) after it turned out that the vessel was supposed to go on a WFP contract, has arrived in Mombasa harbour in Kenya.

Because Somali businessmen have to come up with huge bonds before any shipment is sent to Somalia on can safely say that not a single time a loaded WFP ship was attacked or seized - and therefore the naval escort is unnecessary but used by the navies as reason to maintain their presence in the area and escalate the situation.

05. 06. 2005 - MV SEMLOW - seized with 850 to of rice - clan-dispute (after tsunami)

Sept. 2005 - MV MITZOW - seized during offloading WFP food at Merka - business dispute (only seized for a couple of hours)

15. 02. 2007 - MV ROZEN - seized after offloading WFP food on her way back - business-dispute

07. 05. 2008 - MV VICTORIA - attacked in Kisimayo while under WFP contract - business dispute –

08. 05. 2008 - MV VICTORIA - seized after off-loading - business dispute - not under WFP

08. 10. 2008 - MV AS-SALAAM - seized after off-loading WFP food on her way back to Dar-es-Salaam

07. 10. 2008 - JAIKUR II - attacked - business dispute

December 2008 - North Korean - ZANG ZASAN CHONG NYONHO (IMO 8133530). Chartered by WFP. She was attacked with small arms fire while under way back to Mombassa from Mogadishu harbour, just while leaving the harbour. One sailor injured? Reason for "fare-well-shots" not known but business dispute presumed.

14. 04. 2009 - MV SEA HORSE: Vessel hijacked by three skiffs and an unknown number of pirates, east of Mogadishu was released within 5 days for no ransom (just facilitation money) after it turned out that the vessel was supposed to go on a WFP charter contract.

Navies have apparently still not found or arrested the Murder Ship

MT AGIA BARBARA: still at large !

Crew Wanted for Murder

The position and route of the vessel with a crew of 6 Syrians and 6 Indians - wanted for murder in Mogadishu harbour - as well as at least one Somali business-agent on board are now roughly known. The small tanker with the IMO number 7616004 and call sign HO4050 flies a Panama flag (possibly now changed). Registered ship owner and manager is MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. of Piraeus in Greece and the tanker is operated from an office in the UAE. Please report any sighting.

Meanwhile MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. claims that it is no longer the owner of the vessel. In an unspecified e-mail an unidentified sender claimed that MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. is incorrectly registered as owner in the shipping register and that the MT AGIA BARBARA was sold to new owners and would be managed by new managers since September 2008. The sender further stated that the current owners are WORLD CHAMPION MARINE (the Buyer) not MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. (the Seller).

WORLD CHAMPION MARINE, however, could so far not be traced. Unconfirmed reports warn that the vessel if not stopped immediately could reach Eritrea or Sudan and the crew disappear from there. The Somali Government has officially requested all navies and coastal authorities to immediately impound the vessel and to arrest the crew. Vessel picture: http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=70209 Please report any sighting to: somalia[at]ecoterra.net

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 19 foreign vessels (20 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore) with a total of not less than 297 crew members accounted for (of which 84 are confirmed to be Filipinos (plus maybe 16 of newly captured MV PATRIOT) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 72 averted or abandoned attacks with 34 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least two wrongful attacks (incl. friendly fire) on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.

Directly Piracy-related Reports

A South Korean navy warship has rescued a North Korean freighter by driving away a pirate ship chasing it off Somalia. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday the 4,500-ton-class South Korean warship sent a Lynx helicopter to assist the North Korean vessel after receiving a distress call earlier Monday that it was being chased by the pirate ship. The statement said the pirate ship gave up chasing the North Korean ship and sped away shortly after snipers aboard the helicopter prepared to fire warning shots at it. It said the North Korean ship later sent a thank you message to the South Korean ship. Relations between the two Koreas have badly frayed since a conservative government in Seoul took power last year.

Our pirate belongs in Kenya, not New York
By GHS

It's not too late to ship that kid pirate - the sole surviving pirate in the attack on the Maersk Alabama - back to Kenya for trial. Kenya has an agreement with the United States, Britain and the European Union to prosecute captured pirates, almost all of them from neighboring Somalia.

A trial in Kenya would be relatively uncomplicated and out of sight. In New York, it will be a legal and media circus and the defendant will become a celebrity of sorts, probably a sympathetic one because he looks like a bewildered teen-ager, not Capt. Hook.

For a start, we don't know how old he is and until he arrived in New York we weren't even sure of his name. He may be 16; he may be 18. It makes a big difference under U.S. law. His mother says he's 16 and that his proper name is Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, which is sort of close to what's on court documents.
And, yes, his mother has entered the picture and his father, too. Adar Abdirahman Hassan appealed to President Obama "to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial". Come on over, Mrs. Hassan. There's no reason you shouldn't be doing interviews on the courthouse steps along with everybody else.

U.S. law generally requires a defendant to be able to assist in his defense, but Muse speaks no English, is very likely illiterate and comes from a country with no judicial system or even a functioning government. But already lawyers for radical causes and defendants are coming forth, offering to represent him.
Muse's parents say that he had only been a pirate 10 days when he was captured and that "gangsters" had lured him into the sea robbery trade with promises of big money. It doesn't excuse taking off with AK-47s and RPGs after unarmed sailors aboard unarmed merchant vessels, but his story is very plausible.

Somali piracy is increasingly organized as a criminal enterprise, with Muse and other poor and desperate youngsters with no prospects at the bottom of the chain, while the masterminds provide them with weapons, small boats and larger mother ships to reach the sea lanes and keep the lion's share of the ransom - all from the safety of shore.

The solution to institutional piracy has always been to attack it on land. Send Muse to Kenya. Save the Manhattan show trial for one of the masterminds.

Anti-piracy measures

Kidnapped yachter returns to Somaliland to claim his yacht

What would you be prepared to do to go sailing? Many people give up their jobs, their families, their homes. But the most extraordinary story of all must be that of one German sailor who has braved a return to Somalia, where he had been kept a prisoner for 52 days by pirates, to mend and retrieve his boat.

On June 23 2008, Jurgen and his partner Sabine Merz were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held captive with a 2 million dollar ransom on their heads.

The German government negotiated with a tribal elder for their release, but the pair were held in a rugged hideout in the mountains pending the outcome. Nancy Knudsen for SailWorld spoke with Jurgen Kantner just before he made the decision to return into the very jaws of the pirate gangs who had cost him his freedom before the German government stepped in and paid his ransom. 'We slept in the bush, we had little water and sometimes we had no food for three days', said Mr. Kantner. 'I have lived 33 years on a boat, and it was the worst experience of my life'. The couple were subjected to mock executions. The pirates tied a rope around Mr. Kantner´s neck and threatened to hang him. Once they fired a gun, barely missing his head. At one point, he was separated from his wife when he heard a gunshot. The pirates told him that she had just been killed. The couple was finally released after a $600,000 ransom was paid.

Mr. Kantner said it was not clear if the German government or a private party paid the ransom. Apart from the gruesome experience, the loss of his boat was a disaster for the couple, and we found Mr. Kantner and his partner ready to talk. "The 'Rockall' is not just a yacht". he said. "Everything we owned was in it. Everything. We wanted to start a new life in Thailand. We had sold the house and the car, our bank account was gone and all the money invested in the yacht or in cash, which we carried with us".

"You were leaving Germany for good"?

"Yes. At 28 years of age I bought my first boat, and I have lived now for 33 years mostly on the water. With my first wife I sailed the world's oceans, and my son and daughter virtually grew up on our sailing boats".

"And you, Ms. Merz, you were looking for a great adventure too"?

"No, not at all. I was ready to try sailing such a long distance, but not sure. Then when, after 23 years, I lost my job as an electronic assistant, I decided to see if I liked the life style. If not, I was intending to return to Germany". " It was her first trip".

"You had never been at sea"?

"No. It was bad. I was often seasick. Jürgen had to do everything alone".

"Actually", confessed Jurgen, "this journey seemed to be under a bad star from the beginning. Our steering gear was damaged in a very heavy storm near Crete, there were earthquakes off the coast of Greece, and we had mechanical problems during our Suez Canal transit".

" Is there money from the insurance company"?

"The boat was not insured. So I have no idea what to do next."

"Can you perhaps find a job"?

"At 61? No, there is only one solution: I think I must get my boat working again. I have nothing else. It is my home - everything is there, not only money and equipment, but also log books, photographs, all our private property".

"How will you achieve that"?

"As I now hear, the yacht is in Berbera in Somalia's north coast. The mast is intact, and the sails are there. If I go there, I can repair it. I feel I may still be bait for the pirates, but I think if I electrify the rails with 220 volts, I could probably be safe enough to repair the boat and sail away".

What has allowed the gutsy sailor to return is the emergence of an informal breakaway country of Somaliland, which is a functioning government and is attempting to be part of the solution in ridding the area of piracy.

They even have a small coastguard consisting of just three small patrol boats. It is a big task, an impossible task, for them to patrol the 860kilometre coastline, but they are trying.

'The local community is very aware and they alert us when they suspect pirates are operating in the area', said Admiral Osman Jibril Hagar, the head of the Somaliland coastguard. 'In Somaliland, the people don’t like piracy. They say it is an evil business'.

In the past two years, the coastguard has arrested about 50 pirates in Somaliland, according to Mr. Hagar.

Now Kantner has returned successfully to Somaliland, traveled to Berbera, and spends his days rebuilding his yacht, on the other side of the pier from the Somaliland coastguard base, seemingly safe from pirate attack. He has, however, little belief in the effectiveness of the coastguards. 'They put on a Mickey Mouse show', he said, dismissing them with a wave of the hand. 'They will never catch a thing'.

The admiral of the coastguard, Osman Jibril Hagar, admits his men stand little chance against the pirates. 'We are struggling', he said. 'The pirates have bigger boats'.

Once his boat is seaworthy again, Mr. Kantner plans to continue his voyage to Asia, even though it means braving the pirate-infested waters a second time.
'Next time I will buy a gun', he says. 'It is the only way. I will be ready. If they attack, I will fight back'.

No real peace yet

Eritrean information minister Ali Abdu has said in an interview with the BBC on Monday that his government does not recognize the transitional government of Somalia denying accusations that it deployed illegitimate weapon into Somalia. Mr. Ali Abdu said that they don not recognize any government in Somalia replying accusations suggested to Eritrean government yesterday (Sunday) by Somali government that it had illegally deployed weapons in the Islamist controlled areas in southern Somalia adding that he did not like to give respond to a person claiming government position.

Asked about whether Eritrea supports the Somali Islamist opposition groups against the transitional government, the Eritrean information minister replied that they support all the parts of the Somali people to end the political deadlock and reach peace and solution. The statement of the Eritrean information minister Ali Abdu comes as the Somali national security minister Colonel Omar Hashi Aden accused the Eritrean government deployed weapon unlawfully in Lower Shabelle region in Southern Somalia.

Impacting reports from the global village

Top Ranking CIA Operatives Admit Al-Qaeda Is a Complete Fabrication
by Mr. Charrington

BBC’s killer documentary called "The Power of Nightmares". Top CIA officials openly admit, Al-Qaeda is a total and complete fabrication, never having existed at any time. The Bush administration needed a reason that complied with the Laws so they could go after "the bad guy of their choice" namely laws that had been set in place to protect us from mobs and "criminal organizations" such as the Mafia. They paid Jamal al Fadl, hundreds of thousands of dollars to back the U.S. Government’s story of Al-Qaeda, a "group" or criminal organization they could "legally" go after. This video documentary is off the hook…

See Parts I and II here
http://polidics.com/cia/how-to-scare-the-shit-out-of-america-and-make-them-do-anything.html#comments
and
http://polidics.com/cia/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication.html

FOX NEWS Interview with Ian Blair (LINK):Blair said, "Al Qaeda is not an organization. Al Qaeda is a way of working … but this has the hallmark of that approach."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162476,00.html

Press Contacts:

ECOP-marine
East-Africa
+254-714-747090
marine[at]ecop.info
www.ecop.info

ECOTERRA Intl.
Nairobi Node
africanode[at]ecoterra.net
+254-733-633-733

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme
SAP Media Officers
+254-722-613858
+254-733-385868
sap[at]ecoterra.net

End of Ecoterra Press Release

Note
Picture: Sophisticated diagrams to distort the truth; one should characterize it ‘epitome of the lie about the so-called Somali piracy phenomenon’. Of course, it is not an isolated case; all issues are being depicted in tricky and "simplified" ways in order to keep the masses of besotted Western populations inactive in front of the apparently criminal and vicious inhuman acts of their unrepresentative governments and presidents. From: http://www.marinebuzz.com/2008/12/07/somali-pirates-how-ransom-collected-is-spent/