Another ship was hijacked by Somalian Pirates. The M/V Awail, loaded with cement, bound for Bosasso. (or Bosaso, or Boossaaso)
However, the spokesman for the Good Pirates (perhaps their ship is named the Lollipop) claimed they were not the ones who hijacked this ship which was bound for Somalia.
".. the pirates who seized a Ukranian ship carrying a cargo of battle tanks in the Gulf of Aden last month say they won't hijack aid ships or merchant vessels bringing goods to Somalia.
``We have had nothing to do with the hijacking of such vessels and have been preventing other pirates from seizing such ships,'' Sugale Ali Omar, spokesman for the group, said by satellite phone today."
I guess they must be getting some P.R. training. Too bad they haven't figured out that threatening to blow up the M/V Faina is not good P.R.
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When Sugule Ali says "we...had nothing to do" with this or that hi-jacking, the "we" he is referring to is his clan, sub-clan or tribe. According to ONI, ransom payments occur on land, and the applicable tribe or clan runs that part of the operation, so clan identity/solidarity is key to the piratical operations in Somalia.
The Hawlya (or Hawiye or Hawiya) is the largest clan involved in piracy, and Sugule identified himself as with "Central Somalia." That is Hawiye territory. He schooled the New York Times to refer to his group as "the Central Region Coast Guard," and said it is merely "patrolling our seas." (Helluva claim on international waters.) Hawiyes and the Darods are the biggest pirate clans. NYT believes Sugule Ali and his band are from the Habir Gadir sub-clan.
See graphic here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Somalia_ethnic_grps_2002.jpg
Tom
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