Tag: piracy

Qaddafi defends Somali pirates

* Newsflash Surpise: Iranian cargo ship was carrying weapons to Gaza

                                                

* More proof that appeasement is a mental disorder. Too bad Ronald Reagan missed this SoB when he bombed Libya on April 15, 1986.

* Somali Pirates Explained

* Condi agrees to pay compo for Reagans bombing raid on Gaddafi

* Italy promises 5 billion jiziyah to Libya for “damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era”

                              

Arab News

NAIROBI: Libyan leader and new head of the African Union (AU), Muammar Qaddafi, has defended the actions of Somali pirates as an act of self-defense against “greedy” Western nations, the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reported yesterday.

The paper, reporting on Qaddafi’s visit to AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, quoted him as saying: “It is not piracy, it is self-defense. It is defending the Somali children’s food. It is a response to greedy Western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia’s water resources illegally.” The Libyan leader was commenting on piracy in waters off Somalia.

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Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore?

Wall Street Journal

It’s a safe bet, dear reader, that the title of this column has caused you to either (a) roll your eyes and wonder, What century do you think we’re living in? or (b) scratch your head and ask,Yes, why don’t we? Wherever you come down, the question defines a fault line in the civilized world’s view about the latest encroachment of barbarism.

Year-to-date, Somalia-based pirates have attacked more than 90 ships, seized more than 35, and currently hold 17. Some 280 crew members are being held hostage, and two have been killed. Billions of dollars worth of cargo have been seized; millions have been paid in ransom. A multinational naval force has attempted to secure a corridor in the Gulf of Aden, through which 12% of the total volume of seaborne oil passes, and U.S., British and Indian naval ships have engaged the pirates by force. Yet the number of attacks keeps rising.

Why? The view of senior U.S. military officials seems to be, in effect, that there is no controlling legal authority. Title 18, Chapter 81 of the United States Code establishes a sentence of life in prison for foreigners captured in the act of piracy. But, crucially, the law is only enforceable against pirates who attack U.S.-flagged vessels, of which today there are few.

What about international law? Article 110 of the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Convention — ratified by most nations, but not by the U.S. — enjoins naval ships from simply firing on suspected pirates. Instead, they are required first to send over a boarding party to inquire of the pirates whether they are, in fact, pirates. A recent U.N. Security Council resolution allows foreign navies to pursue pirates into Somali waters — provided Somalia’s tottering government agrees — but the resolution expires next week. As for the idea of laying waste, Stephen Decatur-like, to the pirate’s prospering capital port city of Eyl, this too would require U.N. authorization. Yesterday, a shippers’ organization asked NATO to blockade the Somali coast. NATO promptly declined.

Continue reading Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore?

Moe's Pirate News: "Pirates shouldn't target ships of Muslim countries"

*That’s the spirit! Jihad is what unites us! Stealing from other Muslims is unislamic, so lets get this right:

                                           

Somali jihadist spokesman: Pirates shouldn’t target ships of Muslim countries

Islamists raid port in hunt for pirates

* Somali rebels condemn gang that hijacked ship of ‘fellow Muslim country’

* Somebody is listening: Egypt calls on infidels to pay the jiziyah to stop piracy

Robert Spencer: “Pirates shouldn’t target ships of Muslim countries”

Of course, as for those of non-Muslim countries, he does not say one way or the other. But the Islamic tradition regarding the property of unbelievers is clear:

“I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives an property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah” (Sahih Bukhari1.2.24).

And:

“If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle” (Sahih Bukhari 4.53.392).

Continue reading Moe's Pirate News: "Pirates shouldn't target ships of Muslim countries"

Piracy: the new old jihad

Strange Cargo:

* Iranian ship was floating radiological bomb meant for Israel

* In crisis-ridden Somalia, enjoying the ‘piracy bubble’

MOGADISHU (AFP) — As Somalia sinks ever deeper into hunger and despair, attacking foreign ships bottle-necking into the Gulf of Aden is proving to be one of the few profitable activities in the country.

Abdi Garad, who describes himself as the commander of one of the first groups of pirates who started marauding Somalia’s much-frequented waters, has no qualms about listing the personal advantages derived from piracy.

“We enjoy life with the money we get as a ransom,” he told AFP from an undisclosed location in the semi-autonomous breakaway region of Puntland.

More

The failed state of Somalia thrives on piracy

 

Taking Kickbacks From Pirates

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmedby Baron Bodissey/Gates of Vienna

 

I reported on Wednesday that President Abdullahi Yusuf of Somalia had appealed to the Russians and the Americans — and anyone else, really — to help him control the pirates off his coast.
Now it appears that Mr. Yusuf is following the example of St. Augustine: “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.”   Common sense would expect the “president” of a failed state like Somalia to generate as many income streams as he could: UN aid, Western charity, bribes, kickbacks… and payments from pirates.  Continued page 2
                * Somalia Islamists rename Kismayo airport
                * Four pirate attacks off Somalia in 24 hours, U.S. says
  • Attacks come despite presence of six American warships 
  • Eight European countries have offered to help form an anti-piracy force
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