US raid frees two pirate hostages in Somalia

MOGADISHU: U.S. helicopters swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued an American and a Dane after a shootout with pirates holding them hostage, in a rare raid into the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives.

The aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were kidnapped from the town of Galkayo in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region in October while working for the Danish De-mining Group (DDG).

“This case is special … we are dealing with one of the hostages having an illness which is very serious, and this is the reason there was made a decision to go in and take action,” Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal told Denmark’s TV 2 News.

“We cannot conclude … that it is something that will be done in future cases.”

The Danish Refugee Council said Buchanan and Thisted were unharmed and at a safe location. Media reports said they had been flown to neighbouring Djibouti, home to the only U.S. military base in Africa and France’s largest base on the continent.

People involved with the hostages had said earlier this month Buchanan was suffering from a possible kidney infection.

Somali pirate gangs typically seize ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and hold the crews until they receive a ransom. The kidnapping of the aid workers in Galkayo was an unusual case of a pirate gang being behind a seizure on land.

While U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, attacks on pirate bases are very rare.

Galmudug leader Mohamed Ahmed Alim told Reuters nine pirates were killed and five captured during the rescue operation near the pirate haven of Haradheere.

Alim was speaking from Hobyo, another pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized on Saturday, also from Galkayo.

“About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the United States. Pirates have spoilt the whole region’s peace and ethics. They are mafia,” Alim said.

MORE HOSTAGES

Pirates and local elders say the American journalist and a number of sailors from India, South Korea, the Philippines and Denmark are being held by pirate gangs.

A British tourist kidnapped from Kenya on September 11, 2011 is also still held captive in Somalia.

America’s NBC News, citing U.S. officials, said two teams of U.S. Navy SEALs (special forces) landed by helicopter and rescued the hostages after a gun battle with the kidnappers.

The freed hostages were then taken by helicopter to an undisclosed location.

U.S. President Barack Obama was overheard congratulating Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, apparently for the success of the operation, as Obama entered the House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union speech.

“Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight,” Obama said.

Panetta visited U.S. troops in Djibouti last month on his way to Afghanistan and Iraq, in a stopover that reflected Obama’s growing focus on the militant and piracy threats from Yemen and the eastern edge of Africa.

In Djibouti, the United States has a platform to monitor, partly by using surveillance drones, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen and Somalia’s al Shabaab, a hardline rebel group with links to al Qaeda.

Somalia’s government applauded the mission and said it welcomed any operation against pirates.

U.S. special forces killed senior al Qaeda militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in a raid in southern Somalia in 2009. Several other al Qaeda or al Shabaab officials have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Somalia over the past few years.

It was also U.S. Navy SEALs who killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan home in May. AGENCIES

Obama praises military for Somalia hostage rescue

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised U.S. Special Operations Forces who rescued two hostages, including an American aid worker, from pirates in Somalia during an early morning raid.

Obama said Jessica Buchanan, an American aid worker with the Danish Refugee Council, is “on her way home.” Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted were kidnapped at gunpoint by Somali pirates in October.

“As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts,” Obama said in a statement.

In a separate statement, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Buchanan and Thisted “have been transported to a safe location where we will evaluate their health and make arrangements for them to return home.” He said the two hostages were not harmed during the operation, and no U.S. troops were killed or injured.

“This was a team effort and required close coordination, especially between the Department of Defense and our colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Panetta said. Obama said he had approved the mission Monday.

On Tuesday night, Obama appeared to refer to the mission before delivering his State of the Union address. As he entered the House chamber in the U.S. Capitol, he pointed at Panetta in the audience and said, “Good job tonight.” The president did not mention the operation during his speech.

In his statement Wednesday, Obama said: “The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice. This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people. AGENCIES

Pirates hijack ship with 29 Chinese sailors: Xinhua

SHANGHAI: Pirates hijacked a Chinese ship carrying 29 sailors in the Arabian Sea and told the ship’s owner that they were sailing the vessel to Somalia, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

The Panama-flagged ship, named Yuan Xiang, was seized on Friday night by an unknown number of pirates, with officials receiving a report from ship owner Ningbo Hongyuan Ship

Management Ltd just before midnight, Xinhua said, citing the China Marine Rescue Center (CMRC).

CMRC was unable to get in touch with the hijacked ship and the fate of the sailors remained unclear, Xinhua said, adding that the attacked occurred outside a region protected by a multinational force, including China’s navy.

The latest attack was made just one day after pirates took control of a Panama-flagged chemical tanker with a crew of 31 off the coast of Somalia.

Piracy

Britain, Germany tighten air security after bomb plot

LONDON: Countries including Britain and Germany have tightened air security measures amid fears about the safety of cargo after two US-bound parcel bombs were sent from Yemen in an alleged Al-Qaeda plot.

London announced Monday that it was suspending all unaccompanied air cargo from war-torn Somalia, extending a ban on freight from Yemen imposed after the devices were found on planes last week in England and Dubai.

Berlin extended a ban on air freight from Yemen to cover passenger flights originating in the Arabian peninsula country. The bomb discovered in England passed through Cologne, Germany.

The Netherlands Monday suspended cargo and mail flights originating in Yemen as a “precautionary measure” and France put in place a similar suspension at the weekend.

Yemen reacted with surprise, saying Tuesday it needed help not punishment.

It

Malaria can be exterminated in 10 to 15 years: Scientists

Malaria, the disease that causes the deaths of approximately 1.2 million people around the globe every year, could be erased in the next 10 o 15 years.
Scientists have examined the Malaria causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum over five years and found out that it is likely to vanish within the next decade and a half, as long as transmission rates can significantly be reduced. If 90% of transmission cases would decrease, the organism would possibly become extinct. Malaria gets mostly transmitted by mosquitoes and 90% of Malaria deaths occur on the African continent. That is why it is least likely for countries like Angola, Chad or Somalia to fight the disease, as poverty rates and unstable governing already represent tough challenges for its population.

Malaria can be exterminated in 10 to 15 years: Scientists

Malaria, the disease that causes the deaths of approximately 1.2 million people around the globe every year, could be erased in the next 10 o 15 years.
Scientists have examined the Malaria causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum over five years and found out that it is likely to vanish within the next decade and a half, as long as transmission rates can significantly be reduced. If 90% of transmission cases would decrease, the organism would possibly become extinct. Malaria gets mostly transmitted by mosquitoes and 90% of Malaria deaths occur on the African continent. That is why it is least likely for countries like Angola, Chad or Somalia to fight the disease, as poverty rates and unstable governing already represent tough challenges for its population.

Somali pirates hijack tanker in Indian Ocean

MOGADISHU: Somali pirates have hijacked a tanker nearly 600 nautical miles off Somalia, pirates and the European Union anti-piracy taskforce said on Saturday.

The taskforce, EU Navfor, said gunmen attacked the MV Polar, a 72,825 tonne Panama-flagged tanker with 24 crew members, overnight in the Somali basin.

The crew includes one Romanian, three Greeks, four Montenegrins and 16 Filipinos.

The tanker’s owner confirmed pirates were now in control of the vessel, EU Navfor said.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government for almost two decades and is awash with weapons. The mayhem on land has allowed piracy to boom in the strategic waterways off its shores linking Europe to Asia and Africa. AGENCIES

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index, War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to a new report from Transparency International. Pakistan dropped to 34th from 42nd in the ranking of global corruption index.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained their top position on the list with scores of 9.3. They were followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1. The US ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog group showed in its Corruption Perceptions Index published today. Meanwhile, emerging economic powerhouse China is in 78th place.

Countries that improved their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
This years index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a countrys corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. Its an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.

Pakistan would become Somalia, if KBD not made, warns Taseer

Governor Punjab Salman Taseer warned on Wednesday that if the Kalabagh Dam is not made, the country would turn into Somalia within a decade.
Defying PPP policy, Taseer urged all the political parties to get united and hammer out a strategy to build Kalabagh Dam for the country.
The Governor said all the provinces should evolve a unanimous plan regarding the construction of the said dam.
He blamed the dictators who made the construction of Kalabagh Dam a contention.
He said the construction of the Dam would generate electricity for the power-starved country besides avert flooding.

Greek-operated vessel hijacked off Somalia

NAIROBI: Pirates hijacked the Greek-operated cargo ship MV Lugela off Somalia shortly after it transited through the Gulf of Aden, the European Union’s anti-piracy task force and a maritime official said on Monday.

“She has been taken by pirates. She was expected off the Somali coast in the early hours of this morning,” Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told Reuters.

EU NAVFOR said the Panama-flagged vessel sent a distress alert to its Greek operator early on Saturday and had not been heard from since.

“The vessel was in the Somali basin, approximately 900 nautical miles east of Eyl, Somalia. A short while later, the vessel altered course to sail towards the Somali coast,” EU NAVFOR said on its website.

The MV Lugela, which has a dead weight of 4,281 tonnes, had a crew of 12 Ukrainians on board and was sailing

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