The Criminal-Terrorist Nexus in Plain View

By Douglas Farah

One of the most fascinating dramas unfolding, apart from the Wall Street meltdown, is the fate of the Ukrainian operated ship, hijacked by Somali pirates and loaded with tanks, anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition.

The hijackers of the ship Faina, a Ukrainian-operated, Belize-flagged vessel, are demanding $20 million ransom for the ship, its crew and contents. Several U.S. ships are maintaining visual contact with the ship to try to insure that none of the 33 T-72 tanks or other high value cargo is offloaded.

"We're deeply concerned about the cargo and we don't want it to go into the wrong hands," a U.S. spokesman said. Well, it seems it is a bit late for that, eh?

The Times of London is reporting that the Somali Islamists are already mobilizing to unload what they can.

“The Islamists have sent pick-ups from Mogadishu to go and collect the gear,” said an analyst with a network of Somali informers. “There's not much they can do with the tanks — they can't get them off — but the rest of the weapons they are trying to move ashore.”

My full blog is here.

TrackBack