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Negotiations break down
in standoff with pirates
MOGADISHU: Pirates holding a
US sea captain hostage on a lifeboat
near Somalia could be preparing to
transfer him to another ship yes-
terday as a leading US newspaper
reported that talks aimed at freeing
him had collapsed.
The New York Times reported
that the negotiations over captain
Richard Phillips had broken down
after US officials insisted that the
pirates be arrested after Phillips’s
return.
Phillips has been held hostage
since Wednesday, when the con-
tainer ship he commanded, the
Maersk Alabama, was intercepted
by four pirates as it was transporting
5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for
African refugees.
Citing unnamed Somali officials,
the newspaper said the negotiations
with a group of elders representing
the pirates broke down hours after
the pirates had fired on a small US
Navy vessel that had tried to ap-
proach the lifeboat in the Indian
Ocean, on which Phillips is being
held.
The vessel returned to a nearby
Navy destroyer, the Bainbridge, after
the pirates fired warning shots in
the air, the paper reported, citing an
unnamed US military official.
The official was quoted as say-
ing the US ship did not return fire
because it “did not want to escalate
the situation.”
State Department spokeswoman
Laura Tischler declined late Satur-
day to confirm or deny the report.
US Navy forces have poured into
the region since the attack on the
Maersk Alabama.
The ship’s unarmed crew man-
aged to regain control of the ship,
but the pirates bundled Phillips into
the lifeboat as they escaped.
On Saturday, the ship docked at
the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Crew
members visible from the dock
looked tired but happy.
“The captain is a hero, he saved
US destroyer the USS Bainbridge,
but was recaptured by his abduc-
tors.
Meanwhile, a pirate commander
in the northern Somali town of Eyl
told AFP by telephone that Phillips
would be moved from the lifeboat to
another ship off the Somali coast.
Abdi Garad warned against using
force to rescue Phillips.
“I’m afraid this matter is likely
to create disaster because it’s taking
too long and we are getting informa-
our lives,” one of them said, before
retreating back inside the vessel.
crime scene,” Maersk Line president
John Reinhart told a press briefing
tion that the Americans are planning
rescue tricks like the French com-
mandos did,” Garad said.
Despite their ordeal, however, in the US state of Virginia. A US military spokesman in
the crew was not allowed off the Adrift in Indian Ocean and Washington declined to comment
ship and the media was told to stay tracked closely by two US warships, on how the US Navy would react if
ashore while US Federal Bureau of the lifeboat carrying Phillips was the pirates managed to transfer Phil-
Investigation agents debriefed crew now roughly 2032km from the So- lips to another vessel.
members. mali coastline, according to CNN. The pirates have demanded a
“Because of the pirate attack, the Overnight Thursday to Friday, US$2 million (RM7.5 million) ran-
FBI has informed us this ship is a Phillips tried to swim for the nearby som and safe passage to Somalia
for his release, New York’s Daily
News reported, adding that they
threatened to kill him if the US Navy
attacked.
French Defence Minister Herve
Morin defended Friday’s marine raid
on a yacht in the region that left one
hostage and two pirates dead.
The marines moved in six days
after the French yacht, the Tanit,
was seized in the Gulf of Aden.
Although they freed three adults
and a three-year-old boy, the yacht’s
owner Florent Lemacon, also the
child’s father, was killed.
An autopsy and investigation
would determine what had hap-
pened, said Morin. He could not rule
out that the fatal shot had come from
the French forces.
But speaking on French radio, he
insisted: “We did everything to save
the hostages’ lives.”
Meanwhile, an Italian vessel be-
came Saturday the latest hijacking
victim in the Gulf of Aden.
“Ten Italians, five Romanians
and a Croat are on board,” Claudio
Bartolotti of the boat’s owners Mico-
peri Marine Contractors told AFP
from the company’s headquarters
in Ravenna, northern Italy.
Bartolotti said the announcement
of the capture of the 75-metre Buc-
caneer came in an email that had
probably been sent by the pirates
themselves.
It was the latest in a series of bra-
zen raids in the Gulf of Aden and the
Indian Ocean, despite the presence
Handout photo released by French Navy shows the owners of Tanit, Florent
EPAPIX
of an international task force there
Lemacon, his wife Chioe (centre) and another member of the crew being held to defend international shipping
at gunpoint by armed pirates. through the busy passage. – AFP
Thai deputy premier urges police, army to act
» From Front Page Thaugsuban, who oversees secu- one shot and Abhisit’s spokesman,
rity, urged the military and police Thepthai Senpong, dismissed it as
Thailand has seen 18 coups to do their job. propaganda.
since 1932 and another one is “Actions must be taken promptly A Reuters reporter saw the
certainly a possibility if there is and order be restored as soon as man’s badge, confirming he was
blood in the streets. possible. Your superiors and I will take part of Abhisit’s detail. He said the
The cancelled summit and responsibility for all your actions,” he guard was badly beaten up when
heightened tensions in the capital said in a statement on television. he was brought to the Government
have undermined confidence in the A Reuters journalist at the Interior House site where demonstrators
government and dealt another blow Ministry said soldiers initially made later treated his wounds.
to the economy, still reeling from no effort to stop protesters entering UDD leader Jakrapob Penkair
last year’s political chaos and the the premises but later fired into the said the Thaksin supporters were
global financial crisis, analysts said. air to stop others getting in. ready to defend themselves.
Thaksin’s absence has not healed Some protesters had disabled “They are trying to force us into
the divisions between on the one the tracks of two armoured cars a people’s war. We will bring more
hand the royalist, military and busi- near police headquarters. Others people to Government House
ness elite, who say he was corrupt, danced on top of the vehicles. because the best way to defend
and on the other hand the poor, who An army spokesman said the ourselves is with numbers.”
benefited from his populist policies. public should not be alarmed to see The demonstration in Bangkok
Abhisit appeared on television such vehicles. This was not a coup, had earlier appeared to be winding
to warn Thaksin’s supporters they but part of the security measures down as people left the capital
face tough measures under the Abhisit has ordered, he said. ahead of the three-day Thai New
state of emergency. Up to 300 police with riot shields Year holiday, but it ramped up again
“We want to ask you to stop such were deployed about 200m from after the emergency was declared.
action. It is necessary for the govern- the demonstration at Government A Reuters reporter saw more
ment to adopt the measures allowed House – the focus of the protests than 100 petrol bombs, wooden
in the emergency decree, in order since late March. stakes and metal poles. Surgical
to get the nation back to peace,” he Leaders of the pro-Thaksin masks were being handed out.
said in a televised statement, hours United Front for Democracy against Police said they had arrested
after his car was attacked. Dictatorship (UDD) said they were Arismun Pongreungrong, a popular
Some armoured vehicles have holding one of Abhisit’s security singer prominent in the UDD’s dis-
appeared on the streets but no guards, claiming he had shot dead ruption of the summit, and were
action has been reported. a protester at the ministry. holding him at a police station
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Independent witnesses saw no north of Bangkok. – Reuters
theSun | MONDAY APRIL 13 2009
Drugs, US
guns on
the table
for Obama
in Mexico
MEXICO CITY: US President Barack
Obama begins his first trip to Latin
America in Mexico on Thursday amid
promises to help tackle spiralling drug
violence, a first trade dispute, and
possible US immigration reform that
could affect millions of Mexicans.
Obama follows a flurry of high-
level US visits south of the border
in recent weeks, marking a shift in
the US stance toward Mexico’s drug
cartel problem that implies shared
responsibility, as violent Mexican gang
activity is increasingly obvious in the
United States.
“For the first time in decades, the
United States at the highest-ranking
level has agreed to recognise co-
responsibility in the drug trade,” said
Rosanna Fuentes-Berain, editor of the
Spanish edition of Foreign Affairs.
During her Mexico trip last month,
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
promised financing for US-made
Blackhawk helicopters on top of
a US$1.4-billion (RM5.25 billion) US
plan to help train and equip Mexican
anti-drug forces known as the Merida
Initiative, which still needs to be fully
approved by Congress. But more than
aid promises, Mexico has welcomed a
change in tack.
“The difference is insubstantial in
terms of money,” Fuentes-Berain said.
“What is important is the tone.”
Clinton admitted US demand for
illegal drugs and its inability to prevent
weapons smuggling had contributed
to 7,000 deaths in Mexico since the
start of 2008. – AFP
Taiwan MPs
move to
legalise
prostitution
TAIPEI: Ruling party lawmakers
in Taiwan vowed to press ahead
with attempts to decriminalise
prostitution after winning enough
backing yesterday to introduce a bill
to parliament.
Their proposal aims to amend
the existing law under which pros-
titutes are punished but their clients
are not.
Prostitutes face detention of three
days or a fine of up to T$30,000
(RM3,330) if they are caught provid-
ing sex services.
“Since prostitution is illegal, sex
workers were often abused, and
what’s more, when this happened,
they dared not turn to police for
help,” said Cheng Li-wen, the leg-
islator behind the proposal.
The proposal has been endorsed
by legislators from more than 10
Kuomintang ruling party legislators,
meaning it has passed the threshold
for becoming a bill and would be
discussed on the parliamentary
floor, the United Daily News said.
Opponents claimed that legalis-
ing the domestic sex industry would
result in increased sex abuse in the
country.
However, Wang Fang-ping, a
leading advocate for the rights of
sex workers, hailed what she called
“a small step forward” in decrimi-
nalising prostitution.
While there is no official estimate
of the scale of Taiwan’s sex indus-
try, Wang said up to 800,000 people
may be involved, with estimated
annual revenue of at least T$60
billion (RM6.4 billion. – AFP