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Showing posts from June 12, 2011

Pirates free German ship

Source: news 24 Bosasso - Somali pirates have freed a German-owned cargo ship, seized in April, after they received a ransom, a pirate and maritime source said on Friday. The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Susan K, and with its crew of 10 Ukrainians and Filipinos, was released on Thursday. "The German cargo ship has now sailed away. We have taken $5.7m in ransom," pirate Ibrahim told Reuters by phone from coastal Ras Guna, in semi-autonomous state of Puntland. Andrew Mwangura, maritime editor of The Somalia Report, confirmed the release. He said the ransom had been paid in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa but could not confirm the sum. "Next port of call Djibouti. It is not yet known if she has started moving out to safe waters," Mwangura told Reuters. Somali pirates have been wreaking havoc in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, hijacking commercial vessels in defiance of international naval patrols of the bustling shipping lanes. The attacks have grown in sophisticati

Pirates rob tanker near Nigeria coast, the second robbery in the area in a week

Source: Washington post By Associated Press, Published: June 17 LAGOS, Nigeria — Pirates near the coast of Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos have robbed a chemical tanker anchored in the Gulf of Guinea. A report by the International Maritime Bureau says the attack happened Tuesday off the coast of Cotonou in the neighboring country of Benin. It said the pirates hijacked the anchored ship and forced its captain to sail the vessel to an unknown location. They then stole property from the ship before leaving the vessel. In a message posted Friday on the bureau’s website and Twitter page, the attack was blamed on Nigerian robbers. A similar robbery attack on June 8 in the same area targeted another chemical tanker. Pirate attacks off the coast near Nigeria have risen in recent years. They mostly occur off the port of Lagos. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Al Shabaab Says It Will Cooperate With Al Qaeda's New Leader

Source: All africa Mogadishu — Al shabaab movement on Friday cordially welcomed the naming Ayman Al Zawahiri as al Qaeda's top spearhead. In an interview with an al Shabaab run Radio, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of Al shabaab they will cooperate the new leader as much possible as they could. He said his group announces its allegiance to Ayman Al Zawahir as it used to be under the control of the slain leader Osama Bin Laden. On Thursday al Qaeda officially promoted the Egyptian-born eye surgeon, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to the top spot on its organogram, six weeks after US Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in his hidden-in-plain-sight hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Al Jazeera TV quoted a media release in which al Qaeda announced that its general command had appointed al-Zawahiri as its new head. Al Qaeda said, "We seek with the aid of God to call for the religion of truth and incite our nation to fight." Al Qaeda added that its general command, "after completi

Al-Zawahiri Takes Lead of al-Qaida, Vowing 'Blood for Blood' for Bin Laden Death

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Source: PBS Jeffrey Brown discusses al-Qaida's shift in leadership to Ayman al-Zawahri with The Boston Globe's Juliette Kayyem and Georgetown University's Daniel Byman. PART 1: Al-Qaida Leadership Handed to al-Zawahri » PART 2 Transcript JEFFREY BROWN: For more, we go to Juliette Kayyem, now a national security columnist for The Boston Globe and a former assistant secretary of homeland security, and Daniel Byman, director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and author of a new book on Israeli counterterrorism. Juliette Kayyem, I will start with you. Fill in the portrait a bit of Ayman al-Zawahri. What is important to know about his biography and experience? JULIETTE KAYYEM, former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary: Well, I think the biography begins with how -- who he was when he was born. He comes from an elite family with long ties to Egyptian leadership, not unlike bin Laden was -- bin Laden's family was with the Saudis. S

Basque suspect with FARC link arrested in France

Source: taiwannews A man suspected of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA and training Colombian FARC guerrillas was detained in France, officials said Friday. Inaki Dominguez Atxalandabaso was captured Thursday in Modane in the French Alps aboard a train traveling from Milan to Paris, Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement. The suspect had false Spanish identity documents and large quantities of computer and electronic components. The 36-year-old Atxalandabaso is believed to have lived in Venezuela for years and security forces are investigating why he was in France. "One has to analyze exactly what he was carrying and check the information we hold, but it's evident he was up to no good with the material he was transporting," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said. Dominguez Atxalandabaso is cited in a March 2010 judicial investigation by Spanish National Court judge Eloy Velasco as having given explosives training to 13 FARC members in the Venezu

Soldier killed, hundreds flee in clash in North Cotabato

Source: PHIL STAR MANILA, Philippines - An Army soldier was killed and hundreds of residents were evacuated as a gunbattle erupted yesterday between government security forces and leftist insurgents in the North Cotabato, the military said Wednesday. New Peoples Army (NPA) guerillas led by Commander Enoy of the rebels Front 51 attacked a military position on Tuesday in Barangay Batasan, Makilala town, resulting in a 30-minute fierce fighting, said regional military spokesman Col. Prudencio Asto. Asto said a soldier was killed in the encounter and more than 42 families from the village fled to safer grounds to avoid being caught in the crossfire. The NPA has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for more than four decades. The military estimates that there are some 4,700 NPA guerrilla fighters scattered in more than 60 provinces throughout the country. (Xinhua)

New FARC offensive suggests shift in Colombian rebels' strategy

The guerrilla group attacked a military contingent Tuesday, killing two civilians and wounding 10. But the Colombian government says the attack is a sign of the rebels' desperation. By Sibylla Brodzinsky, Correspondent / June 16, 2011 Bogota, Colombia Though weakened by a sustained military campaign that has taken out some of it top leaders, Colombia’s FARC guerrillas are on the offensive again across the country in what analysts see as the application of a new strategy. On Tuesday, guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked a military contingent that guarded a bridge in southern Caquetá province. When the soldiers gave chase to the rebels, they were ambushed on the road in a hail of machine gun and mortar fire. A public transportation vehicle was trapped in the crossfire and two civilians were killed, while another 10 were wounded. The attack was blamed on the FARC’s elite unit known as the Teófilo Forero mobile column, the same group believed to b

Map highlights striking similarities between former paramilitary and 'bacrim' territory

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Source: Colombia A map published by political news website La Silla Vacia shows the striking similarities between territories formerly controlled by paramilitary groups and areas that today have an emerging criminal gang (BACRIM) presence. Departments like Antioquia and Cordoba who had a high presence of paramilitaries before demobilization remain with a high presence of criminal gangs such as " Aguilas Negras ," " ERPAC ," "Los Paisas," "Los Rastrojos ," "Los Urabeños " and " Oficina de Envigado " who reportedly have a presence in 23 of the 28 municipalities in Cordoba. As opposed to their AUC predecessors who began as militias intended to defend Colombian land owners against leftist guerrilla groups, these criminal gangs focus on drug trafficking and extortion. However there are reported cases of political intimidation such as the case of the Aguilas Negras -- a non-cohesive group dedicated to protecting the economic i

Lebanese PM sends in troops as Syrian situation sparks clashes

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Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he asked the army and security forces "to impose the law and order" in Tripoli. ( CNN ) -- Lebanon dispatched troops Friday to quell clashes that arose in the city of Tripoli over the Syrian crisis. Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on TV that Lebanese army reinforcements went to two neighborhoods to "put an end to what happened." The clashes were between Lebanese Alawites who support the Syrian government and Sunni Muslims who oppose it. There also had been a large demonstration in Tripoli in support of the Syrian people. The clashes in Tripoli killed one soldier and three civilians and injured two soldiers and 10 civilians, the army said. Lebanon's National News Agency said one of those killed was an official with the Democratic Arab Party, an Alawite entity. "I asked the military and the security forces to impose the law and order in the city and strike with an iron fist," said Mikati, who noted that authori