Somali pirates seize two Yemeni fishing vessels
12/12/2008 17:28
Somali pirates have seized two Yemeni fishing ships with 22 fishermen on
board in the Gulf of Aden, a regional maritime group confirmed today.
A
statement from the East Africa's Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) said the
pirates seized the vessel on Wednesday as they sailed off the Mait area near the
southern port city of Aden.
The statement quoting Yemeni ministry of interior
said the authorities have confirmed that all the 22 fishermen taken as hostages
by the pirates were Yemenis, but sources of Yemen's Coastguards Authority said
that seven fishermen escaped on a small boat and had claimed the pirates
attacked the two ships as they were sailing in the Gulf of Aden.
"A total of
17 crew members on board in coastal waters in the Gulf of Aden were hijacked," a
state-run website reported.
However, independent sources said that before the
pirates took control of the two ships, seven Yemeni fishermen escaped on a small
boat to report the attacks to the authorities in Aden.
The seizure came as
the UN-sponsored meeting concluded in Nairobi yesterday with participants
calling for greater cooperation to combat the rampant piracy off the coast of
Somalia, and emphasizing that a durable solution to the problem requires peace
and stability in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
A communique issued
at the end of the two-day gathering in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed "the importance
of enhancing coordination and cooperation in the fight against piracy,"
welcoming recent steps taken by nations and organizations to fight the
scourge.
The European Union (EU) this week launched Operation Atalanta, an
anti-piracy task force seeking to protect merchant ships from pirate attacks off
the Somali coast, and NATO has been escorting WFP vessels carrying life-saving
aid for the Somali people.
Speaking in Kenya yesterday, UN envoy for Somalia
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said he believes pirates may have collected over US$120
million this year, with "total impunity."
Ould-Abdallah called on countries
that can do so to trace and freeze the assets of the pirates' financial
backers.
Somali pirates have hijacked some 40 ships this year and currently
hold about 15 vessels and their crews, despite a growing number of international
patrols to stop the attacks.
UN diplomats have said that the United States
has circulated a draft Security Council resolution proposing that all nations
and regional groups chasing pirates off the Somali coast be allowed to follow
them onshore, on land and in the air.
Xinhua
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