Oliver Mathenge And Jami Makan
7 October 2008
Nairobi — American and Russian naval forces have been asked to deal with the mv Faina pirates firmly, but cautiously, to protect the crew being held hostage aboard the Ukrainian vessel.
"The pirates are holding hostages... human lives are at stake. Ultimately, force could result in casualties," warned Somali Foreign minister Ali Ahmed Jama in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Mr Jama said Somalia had not been in contact with the pirates. And because his government could not secure Somali waters, it was up to the international community to deal with people who made a living by hijacking ships and demanding ransom, he said.
On Tuesday, the pirates were reported to have revised their ransom demand from $20 million (Sh1.4 billion) to $8 million (Sh576 million), according to information on the Russia Today website.
This is the second time the figure is being scaled down. The pirates initially demanded $35 million (Sh2.5 billion).
Meanwhile, fresh evidence on the BBC website shows that the weapons aboard mv Faina were jointly acquired by the governments of Kenya and Southern Sudan.
A copy of the cargo manifest posted on the website indicates that the contract was issued on behalf of Southern Sudan, although the Kenyan Defence ministry is named as the consignee.
Contract numbers for the military ware including 33 tanks, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns contain the initials GOSS.
The document shows contracts numbers such as MOD/GOSS/T-72/06-07-5/9-1K, where the initials MOD are thought to represent Kenya's Department of Defence and GOSS referring to the Government of South Sudan.
The information also corresponds with information on a bill of lading made available to the media by Government spokesman Alfred Mutua when the issue of ownership of the cargo first cropped up.
In a related development, an international think tank says the rise in piracy off the coast of Somalia is boosting terrorism and threatening global trade.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs notes that more than 60 ships had been attacked as at September 25.
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