Saturday, September 27, 2008 :::
 

Tanks a lot!

















Yo-ho ho, nous sommes de joyeux pirates.

A Russian warship on Friday rushed to intercept a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 battle tanks and ammunition that was seized by pirates off the Horn of Africa — a bold hijacking that heightened fears about the surging piracy and high-seas terrorism.

U.S. naval ships were in the area and "monitoring the situation," and a U.S. Defense Department official said Washington was concerned about the attack.
"I think we're looking at the full range of options here," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
It was unclear whether the pirates who seized the Faina Thursday knew ahead of time it was carrying 33 Russian-designed T-72 tanks, plus ammunition and spare parts, bound for Kenya. Analysts said it would be extremely difficult to sell such weaponry as Russian tanks.

* Kenyan maritime welfare activist Andrew Mwangura told The Associated Press that the hijacking of such cargo was unprecedented.
"This is a jackpot in the piracy world," he told AP

* Ukrainian Defense Minister Yury Yekhanurov said the Faina was carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. He said the tanks were sold, in accordance with international law, to Kenya.

* U.S. Defense Department spokesman Whitman said the United States was worried about the ship's cargo.
"A ship carrying cargo of that nature being hijacked off the coast of Somalia is something that should concern us, and it does concern us. And we are monitoring the situation and taking a look at what the options might be," Whitman said.

Labels: Guerre, infos du monde, Piraterie

::: posted by Tranxenne at 1:47 AM

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