Somalia: Pirates Issue New Threat
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The Nation (Nairobi)
11 October 2008
Posted to the web 12 October 2008
Dominic Wabala
Nairobi
Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship for the last 16 days have threatened to blow up the MV Faina in the next 36 hours if ransom is not paid.
The pirates' self-proclaimed spokesman, Sugule Ali, told the Associated Press that the pirates would blow up the ship, its cargo, crew and themselves if the $20 million ransom is not paid by Monday night.
The threat comes barely two days after NATO joined calls by the international community to do something about piracy in the Gulf of Aden and declared that it would send seven warships to combat the menace in the next two weeks.
Six US warships are currently surrounding the Belize-registered Ro-Ro cargo ship while a Russian frigate is on it way to join them.
Ali said that the approximately 50 pirates were ready to die along with the crew of 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and an Albanian.
One crew member, believed to be the ship's Russian captain, died of stroke a day after the hijacking; his body is still on board.
The ship carrying 33 Russian-made T-72 tanks, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and a large amount of ammunition was destined for Mombasa port when it was intercepted and hijacked by the pirates about 200 nautical miles off the Somali coast.
It is currently moored off Hobyo off the Somali coast as the pirates negotiate with the owners about payment of the ransom.
The US Navy warships surrounding the hijacked ship have warned the pirates not to attempt to off load the weapons, but they are allowing them to bring in supplies.
The pirates had initially demanded a $35 million ransom before scaling down to $20 million, then $8 million last Friday.
"We held a consultative meeting for more than three hours today and decided to blow up the ship and its cargo--us included--if the ship owners do not meet our ransom demand," Sugule told The AP via a satellite phone while aboard the vessel.
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Ali repeated the threat in similar interviews with other journalists giving a three-day ultimatum from Friday.
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