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Somalia
Government talks fail as warships combat pirates
Article published on the 2008-11-17 Latest update 2008-11-18 17:54 TU
Militants of al Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu,early November
(Photo: Mowlid Abdi / Reuters)
The President and Prime Minister of Somalia failed to agree on the formation of a government, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said this weekend. Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein said on Sunday that President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had refused to accept a cabinet list proposed by Hussein.
Last month's summit in Nairobi set the deadline of 12 November for the naming of a new transitional government. Despite a meeting in London last week and a visit to Addis Abeba by the two leaders on Thursday, no agreement was reached on the formation of a Somali cabinet.
The United Nations envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah urged both sides to continue negotiations, "to think of their country's dignity and its future and end their disagreements."
Violence continued in Somalia this weekend as clashes between militants from the Islamic Courts Union and local militia fighters in the south of the country left two dead.
In the township of Balad, 30 kilometres north of Mogadishu, 32 people were flogged on Saturday for having performed a folklore dance. The dancers were arrested after dancing on Friday night. They are accused of violating Islamist Sharia law that bans men and women from dancing together.
In the wake of continued piracy in the seas off Somalia, South Korea said on Monday that it will send a warship after five Koreans were seized over the weekend. A Japanese cargo ship was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday with its crew of five South Korean and 18 Philippine nationals.
The hijack came after another Japanese ship, the chemical tanker the Stolt Valor, was released on Saturday along with its 22 crewmembers. Indian maritime officials said the crew was in good health and the tanker was headed to Mumbai.
Sunil Nair of the National Union of Indian Seafarers said a ransom had been paid for the ship's release but he did not say if it was the figure of 2.5 million dollars requested by the pirates.
The weekend also saw the attempted hijacking of a Saudi vessel prevented by a Russian warship. The Russian ship Neustrashimy prevented pirates in speedboats from taking control of the Saudi Arabian ship the Rabia.
The European Union last week launched its first-ever naval mission, "Operation Atalanta", which aims to ensure security in the waters off Somalia. It is being led by the UK.
The Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, carrying tanks and other armaments, continues to be held by pirates off the Somali coast. The ship was taken on September 25th, and caused a diplomatic uproar after it was alleged that the arms were destined for the conflict in Darfur, Sudan.
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in early June to crack-down on piracy in the Gulf of Aden authorising foreign military ships to use force against any acts of piracy.
More than 80 vessels have been attacked this year off Somali waters according to the Board of Marine Inquiry.
