US navy destroyer rescues Iranian boat from Somali pirates

Rescue in which 15 suspects were detained comes just days after Tehran warned the US to keep its warships out of the Gulf

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press, Friday 6 January 2012

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: 'This
is an incredible story'. Photograph: AP

A US navy destroyer has rescued an Iranian fishing boat that had been commandeered by suspected pirates just days after Tehran warned America to keep its warships out of the Gulf.

US forces flying off the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd responded to a distress call from the Iranian vessel, the Al Molai, which had been held captive for more than 40 days, the US navy said Friday. The Kidd was sailing in the Arabian sea, after leaving the Gulf, when it came to the sailors' aid.

A US navy team boarded the ship Thursday and detained 15 suspected Somali pirates. They had been holding the 13-member Iranian crew hostage and were using the boat as a "mother ship" for pirating operations in the Gulf.

Amid escalating tensions with Tehran, the Obama administration reveled in delivering the news.

"This is an incredible story. This is a great story," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, explaining that the very same American ships Iran protested against for recently travelling through the Strait of Hormuz were responsible for the Iranian vessel's recovery.

"They were obviously very grateful to be rescued from these pirates," Nuland said.

The episode occurred after a week of hostile rhetoric from Iranian leaders, including a statement by Iran's army chief that American vessels are no longer welcome in the Gulf. Iran also warned it could block the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that carries to market much of the oil pumped in the Middle East.

The Iranian threats, which were brushed aside by the Obama administration, were in response to strong economic sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear enrichment program. Last week, president Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad.

According to the navy, the Kidd was part of the USS John C Stennis Carrier Strike Group, which had recently left the Gulf through the strait and into the northern Arabian sea.

A navy search-and-seizure team was taken by helicopter from the Kidd to the Al Molai and met no resistance from the pirates, who surrendered quickly.

"The Al Molai had been taken over by pirates for roughly the last 40-45 days," said Josh Schminsky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd. "They were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations."

Schminsky said the Iranian boat's captain thanked the US for assistance. "He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," Schminsky said in a prepared release.

The US team gave the crew food, water and medical care. Nuland said the crew then returned the Iranians to their fishing vessels "and they went on their way."

The captured pirates remain on the Stennis while the US considers options for prosecution and consults with other nations that have joined forces against piracy.

"Sadly, this is not a new thing," she told reporters, citing more than 1,000 pirates picked up at sea who are under prosecution in some 20 countries. "So this is always a question of where to send them and who will do the prosecution."

Asked if the rescue mission could provide a chance for a thaw in relations with Iran, Nuland declined to comment. She said the navy had made a "humanitarian gesture" to take the Iranians onboard, feed them and ensure they were in good health before setting them off. She said the US and Iranian governments have had no direct contact over the incident.

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Dutch court jails five Somali pirates for five years

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 17 June 2010 - 3:08pm

A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced five Somali pirates, the first to stand trial in Europe, to five years in prison for attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged ship in 2009.

"The court sentences the defendants to a prison sentence of five years," said court president Jan Willem Klein Wolterink.

The five men aged between 25 and 45 all pleaded not guilty on the first day of their trial in Rotterdam in the west of the Netherlands on May 25.

They told the court they were simple fishermen who were attacked as they sought help from the Turkish ship, the Samanyolu, after developing engine trouble and running out of food and water at sea.

But prosecutors said they were arrested after attacking the ship with automatic weapons and rockets on January 2, 2009.

The five were convicted for seeking to hijack a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden

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UK and US funding anti-terror police unit in Yemen

BBC News

A Yemeni security armored vehicle patrol in the capital San'a, Yemen, in this June 15, 2009 file photo. The British government said Sunday Jan. 3, 2010 that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama have agreed to back a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising terrorist threat from the country. (AP /Mohammed al-Qadhi, File)

Britain and the US have agreed to intensify efforts to tackle the "evolving threat" from Islamist groups in Yemen, Downing Street has announced.

Officials said the UK and the US were funding a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen. The news follows an alleged airline bomb attack over Detroit.

Barack Obama has sent his top Middle East general to meet Yemen's president.

The leaders have agreed to intensify US-UK work in Yemen

The US president has alleged that the Christmas Day bomb suspect was trained by a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot.

Gen David Petraeus - who is responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.

On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda, based in Yemen, over the alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner over Detroit.

'Terror incubator'

A statement from No 10 said Downing Street and White House officials had discussed "increased UK-US working" in a series of phone calls since the alleged failed plot on Christmas Day.

Mr Brown has called Yemen "both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism" and said it presented "a regional and global threat".

The increased UK-US working will include support for the Yemeni coastguard operation, Downing Street said.

Downing Street told the BBC: "The UK government is in close contact with the Yemeni government and the White House.

"The details are still to be worked out but this will build on the work already being done by the UK to help the Yemeni government combat terrorism."

Gen David Petraeus flew to Yemen to discuss stepping up co-operation between the two countries in the fight against al- Qaeda, according to the Yemeni state news agency.

It says Gen Petraeus met President Ali Abdallah Saleh in the capital Sana'a and handed over a letter from President Obama.

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley said there had been growing concern for some time about al-Qaeda exploiting Yemen's troubles to establish a safe haven in the country's ungoverned spaces.

"But the failed bomb attack last week has put the international spotlight on the Arab world's poorest country," she added.

On Tuesday, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the BBC that Yemen had the will and ability to deal with al-Qaeda, but needed more support from the West.

"We need more training," he said.

"We have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary training, military equipment, ways of transportation - we are very short of helicopters."

Security review

The Downing Street statement set out Mr Brown's other intentions:

• Have the evolving threat from Yemen and Somalia placed on the agenda for the EU General Affairs Council in January
• Push for stronger action on Yemen from the Financial Action Task Force
• Discuss further the UK's response to the suspected bomb plot at a special meeting of the National Security, International Relations and Development committee (NSID)

The alleged bomber, Mr Abdulmutallab, who is now in US custody, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight as it came in to land.

The 23-year-old allegedly attempted to ignite explosives stored in his underpants. He had flown from Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria, where he boarded a flight to Amsterdam before changing planes for Detroit.

The mid-air drama on 25 December has sparked a worldwide aviation security review.

Both Mr Obama and Mr Brown have ordered urgent reviews of airport security, with UK officials expected to report back with preliminary findings "in days".

The prime minister has pledged to "move quickly" to improve security wherever necessary and suggested new technologies such as full body scanners may become more widely used at UK airports.

He has also called a summit in London to discuss radicalisation in Yemen.

No 10 said the 28 January event had support from Washington and the European Union, and Mr Brown aimed to attract Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda over the alleged plot.

In his weekly radio and video address posted on the White House website, Mr Obama said: "We know that [Mr Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies.

"It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America."

The group said it was behind the alleged attack in an internet statement last week.

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India: Pirate 'mother ship' left in flames

(CNN) -- An Indian warship has exchanged fire with a pirate "mother vessel" off the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, leaving the ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden, an official said Wednesday.

 

 A file photo shows the Indian frigate Tabar, which was involved in the skirmish.

 

The skirmish took place Tuesday evening about 525 kilometers southwest of Oman's Salalah port when the frigate INS Tabar spotted a suspected pirate ship with two speedboats in tow, India's 

Defense Ministry reported. 

"This vessel was similar in description to the 'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins," the ministry said in a written statement. 

The battle follows a recent surge in piracy off the Horn of Africa, including the weekend hijacking of a Saudi-owned supertanker by pirates based in largely lawless Somalia.   

Three other vessels have been captured since then in what a London-based maritime official called a "completely unprecedented" situation. 

When the Tabar's crew hailed the ship and demanded it stop for inspection, the pirates threatened to destroy the Indian ship, the ministry reported. 

"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar," the ministry said. 

The Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board, 

the statement said. Two speedboats in tow behind the ship fled; one was found abandoned after a pursuit by the Tabar. 

It was not clear Wednesday whether the mother ship sank after the fighting, naval spokesman Prem Raj Rawat told CNN. 

Michael Howlett, assistant director of the International Maritime Bureau in London, which tracks pirate attacks, said the recent upsurge in activity was unprecedented. "We've never seen a situation like this," he said.  

On Tuesday, pirates hijacked a Thai fishing vessel and a Chinese-flagged Iranian cargo ship carrying wheat in the waters off the Horn of Africa. 

A third ship -- a Chinese fishing vessel -- was hijacked Saturday, but word did not reach authorities until Tuesday, Howlett said. 

Noel Choong, who heads the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said 95 pirate attacks have taken place so far this year in the Gulf of Aden. 

Of those, 39 resulted in successful captures; 17 of those vessels and their crews -- a total of about 300 sailors -- remain in the hands of the pirates. 

But the seizure of the 300,000-ton supertanker Sirius Star took place well south of the gulf, in the Indian Ocean off Kenya. 

Pirate attacks are spreading farther north to the Gulf of Aden and farther south off the Kenyan coast, Choong said. 

"The risks are low and the returns are extremely high for these pirates," he told CNN. Pirates know that their chances of getting killed or captured during a hijacking are very low, he said.

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