WASHINGTON (AFP) – Somali pirates killed four Americans, including a retired couple, onboard their hijacked yacht in a sudden violent turn to efforts to end a hostage drama, the US military said.
Four Somali pirates also died, two of them killed by US special forces in one of the deadliest endings to a raft of hostage-takings off the coast of Somalia that are often resolved through ransom payments.
Jean and Scott Adam, a California couple active in missionary work, had been sailing the world on the S/V Quest yacht for more than seven years and had planned to take in sites from India to Djibouti to Crete on their latest trip.
Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, a couple from Seattle who joined the Adams on the 58-foot (17.5-meter) yacht, were also killed by the band of 19 pirates who commandeered the yacht in waters southeast of Oman, US officials said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States "strongly condemns the murder" of the four and urged other nations, particularly in Africa, to contribute to efforts to fight piracy from lawless Somalia.
"This deplorable act firmly underscores the need for continued international progress toward confronting the shared security challenge posed by piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa," Clinton said in a statement.
President Barack Obama had authorized the use of force in case of an imminent threat to the hostages and was informed at 4:42 am (0942 GMT) of the "tragic outcome," his spokesman Jay Carney said.
Four US warships, including the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, had been tracking the S/V Quest since a Danish crew discovered that it had been hijacked three days earlier, US officials said.
The US military brought two of the pirates onboard the USS Sterett on Monday to conduct negotiations to free the hostages, said Vice Admiral Mark Fox, head of the US Naval Forces Central Command based in Bahrain.
Then Tuesday morning, with "absolutely no warning," the pirates launched a rocket-propelled grenade at the USS Sterett, though several Somalis also raised their arms in surrender on the yacht's deck, Fox said.
US Special Forces raced to the yacht on small boats. By the time they boarded, they heard gunfire and saw that all four Americans had been shot, Fox said. They died after efforts to treat them failed.
The US forces soon took control of the yacht, stabbing to death one pirate and shooting dead another, Fox told reporters at the Pentagon by telephone.
Two more Somali pirates were found dead inside the vessel in unclear circumstances, possibly the result of an earlier fight among the hijackers or of the bullets that killed the hostages, according to US officials.
The Adams had been active in missionary work. On a previous yacht tour of islands across the South Pacific, the couple stopped off to distribute Bibles.
"Jean and Scott were faithful people," said Father Lloyd Torgerson, pastor of Saint Monica Catholic Church near Los Angeles where the couple was active.
"They were people that worked hard all their lives and decided in their retirement that they wanted to do something to make a difference in this world," he said.
Clayton Schmit, a friend of Scott Adam, told CNN the couple knew the trip could be dangerous but had had "this tremendous heart" for religious missions.
In San Francisco, Phyllis Macay's niece Nina Crossland said she came from a large, close family. "We love her and we are devastated," Crossland told reporters.
The couple had kept a blog on their latest trip, which began in early January at the Thai resort of Phuket. Jean Adam described Djibouti, past Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, as "a big refueling stop."
"I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring," she wrote.
The waters near Somalia have been plagued by piracy in recent years, with hijackings a key source of income for a country that has lacked a functioning government for two decades.
The 15 surviving pirates from the clash are being held on a US ship and will eventually face judicial action "to hold them accountable," Fox said.
Just last week, a US judge sentenced a teenage Somali pirate to nearly 34 years in prison for his part in the 2009 hijacking of another US ship, the Maersk Alabama.
That incident had a more successful outcome for US special forces, who freed the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, in an operation that killed three pirates.
While few Americans have been caught up in such hijackings, a number of European yacht enthusiasts have been captured by Somali pirates.
In November, British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were released after an ordeal that lasted more than a year.
"The intent was always that this would be a negotiated process and not ever going to the point where we actually had gunfire," Fox said.
A group called the Thailand to Turkey Convoy, or TTT, said it had feared such a deadly incident and had been trying to persuade yachts to travel together for protection.
"Hopefully, their death is not in vain and will contribute to safer waters in the Indian Ocean," said Rene Tiemessen, a leader of the effort.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Gaddafi's Next Move: Sabotage Oil and Sow Chaos?
There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.
Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.
The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)
My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.
As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote.
My Libyan source said that in order to understand Gaddafi's state of mind we need to understand that he feels deeply betrayed by the media, which he blames for sparking the revolt. In particular, he blames the Qatari TV station al-Jazeera, and is convinced it targeted him for purely political motivations. He also feels betrayed by the West because it has only encouraged the revolt. Over the weekend, he warned several European embassies that if he falls, the consequence will be a flood of African immigration that will "swamp" Europe.
Pressed, my Libyan source acknowledged Gaddafi is a desperate, irrational man, and his threats to turn Libya into another Somalia at this point may be mostly bluffing. On the other hand, if Gaddafi in fact enjoys the loyalty of troops he thinks he has, he very well could take Libya to the brink of civil war, if not over.
Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.
The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)
My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.
As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote.
My Libyan source said that in order to understand Gaddafi's state of mind we need to understand that he feels deeply betrayed by the media, which he blames for sparking the revolt. In particular, he blames the Qatari TV station al-Jazeera, and is convinced it targeted him for purely political motivations. He also feels betrayed by the West because it has only encouraged the revolt. Over the weekend, he warned several European embassies that if he falls, the consequence will be a flood of African immigration that will "swamp" Europe.
Pressed, my Libyan source acknowledged Gaddafi is a desperate, irrational man, and his threats to turn Libya into another Somalia at this point may be mostly bluffing. On the other hand, if Gaddafi in fact enjoys the loyalty of troops he thinks he has, he very well could take Libya to the brink of civil war, if not over.
Americans, Turks among the thousands fleeing Libya
ANKARA, Turkey – Foreigners fled the chaos in Libya by the thousands Wednesday, with Americans and Turks climbing aboard ships, Europeans boarding evacuation flights and North Africans racing to border crossings in overcrowded vans.
Two Turkish ships whisked 3,000 citizens away from the unrest engulfing Libya as Turkey cranked up its largest-ever evacuation, seeking to protect its estimated 25,000 workers in Libya. More than 200 Turkish companies are involved in construction projects in Libya worth over $15 billion, and some construction sites have come under attack by protesters.
The safety of U.S. citizens was a prime concern after failed attempts earlier this week to get them out by plane. But hundreds of Americans safely boarded a 600-passenger ferry at Tripoli's As-shahab port on Wednesday afternoon for the five-hour journey to Malta, a Mediterranean island south of Italy.
Over a dozen countries — including Russia, China, Germany and Ukraine — sent planes in to help their citizens escape an increasingly unstable situation. Tripoli airport was overflowing with stranded passengers, and one said thousands more were sitting in the sun outside the airport, surrounded by luggage and children and blocked by security from entering.
"The airport was mobbed, you wouldn't believe the number of people," said Kathleen Burnett, of Baltimore, Ohio, as she stepped off a flight from Tripoli to Vienna. "It was total chaos."
Irina Kuneva of Bulgaria said tensions in Tripoli were rising sharply after strongman Moammar Gadhafi's defiant speech hinting at civil war with protesters in eastern Libya.
"He said people should either do what he tells them or there will be a civil war," she told reporters Wednesday as she arrived in Sofia on an evacuation flight. "People are very scared because there are many released prisoners walking drunk on the streets."
Two Turkish ships left the eastern Libyan port of Benghazi on Wednesday escorted by a navy frigate. They were heading to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Marmaris, where a soup kitchen and a field hospital were set up and buses were brought in to transfer evacuees. Turkey also sent two more ships to Libya and flew 250 more Turkish citizens back home.
Turkey has now evacuated over 5,300 citizens from Libya in the last three days.
"We are carrying out the largest evacuation operation in our history," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, adding that 21 countries other countries have asked Turkey to evacuate their citizens too.
Migrants also poured across Libya's land borders with Egypt and Tunisia on Wednesday, with vans piled high with luggage and furniture lining up at the Salloum border crossing with Egypt. Jemini Pandya, a spokeswoman for the U.N. migration agency, said thousands of migrants were fleeing Libya.
China was also gearing up for a massive evacuation of the 30,000 or more Chinese workers in Libya building railways, infrastructure and providing oilfield services. Greece was tapped to help evacuate around 13,000 Chinese workers to Crete by ship and China's first chartered evacuation flight left Wednesday for Libya.
Libyan leader Gadhafi has urged his supporters to strike back against Libyan pro-democracy protesters, escalating a crackdown that has led to widespread shooting in the streets. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the nationwide wave of anti-government protests — and possibly many more.
Libya is one of the world's biggest oil producers — responsible for nearly 2 percent of the world's oil — and many oil companies were evacuating their expatriate workers and families.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said about 170 British oil workers and colleagues from other nations were stranded in desert camps and unable to reach the evacuation flights.
"These camps are remote, they're isolated, they are scattered over a large distance, they're dependent for food or water on supplies from Libyan cities that have been severely disrupted by the violence and unrest," he said. "They are in a perilous and frightening situation."
Britain was sending two Boeing 757s to Tripoli to evacuate U.K. nationals, and will send a third Thursday if necessary. The royal navy frigate HMS Cumberland was arriving in international waters off Libya on Wednesday night, ready to assist evacuations if the violence escalates, Hague said.
Evacuation planes from Libya spread out across Europe.
The first planeload of evacuated Russians landed in Moscow, bringing 118 people, and three more planes were expected. A ship was also setting sail for Ras Lanuf, the site of Libya's largest refinery and port, to evacuate up to 1,000 Russians, Turks, Serbs and Montenegrins there.
Two French military planes evacuated nearly 400 foreigners to Paris from Libya, and a third plane was en route from France. Two Bulgarian planes returned Wednesday from Tripoli with nearly 200 passengers and Dutch citizens flew home on a military plane.
Hundreds of Italians took Alitalia flights from Tripoli home, and an Italian air force plane landed Wednesday to evacuate others. Two Italian naval vessels headed to eastern Libyan ports to rescue citizens from Benghazi, Misurata, and other cities where airports had been damaged.
Arriving at Madrid's Barajas airport on a nearly empty Libyan Airlines plane, Venezuelan oil engineer Cesar Orta said he had never witnessed violence but had heard it.
"You could hear gunshots or fireworks and hear people shouting. I wasn't afraid, but I never left my house at night," he said, adding that Tripoli was generally pro-Gadhafi.
Orta said the worst inconvenience was the intermittent Internet service and no working telephones, as well as not being able to understand Arabic-language television to know what was going on.
Carlos Dominguez, another passenger, said conditions were chaotic at Tripoli's airport, where people could not buy tickets online and Libyan Airlines was accepting only cash.
"The doors are locked and you can only get in if you have a ticket," he said.
Swarms of Egyptians who had lived in Libya were locked outside the airport, he said, "lying on the sidewalks with blankets and children" and all their belongings, even television sets.
"The army treats them very badly," he added.
Orta said the Libyans he had talked to think the unrest will die down in a week or so.
"They say things will be OK and that Gadhafi will sort things out," Orta said.
Dominguez, who worked as an architectural consultant in Tripoli, said the Libyans he knows were furious with the international community for its hands-off approach.
"People are very angry with the international attitude," he said.
Two Turkish ships whisked 3,000 citizens away from the unrest engulfing Libya as Turkey cranked up its largest-ever evacuation, seeking to protect its estimated 25,000 workers in Libya. More than 200 Turkish companies are involved in construction projects in Libya worth over $15 billion, and some construction sites have come under attack by protesters.
The safety of U.S. citizens was a prime concern after failed attempts earlier this week to get them out by plane. But hundreds of Americans safely boarded a 600-passenger ferry at Tripoli's As-shahab port on Wednesday afternoon for the five-hour journey to Malta, a Mediterranean island south of Italy.
Over a dozen countries — including Russia, China, Germany and Ukraine — sent planes in to help their citizens escape an increasingly unstable situation. Tripoli airport was overflowing with stranded passengers, and one said thousands more were sitting in the sun outside the airport, surrounded by luggage and children and blocked by security from entering.
"The airport was mobbed, you wouldn't believe the number of people," said Kathleen Burnett, of Baltimore, Ohio, as she stepped off a flight from Tripoli to Vienna. "It was total chaos."
Irina Kuneva of Bulgaria said tensions in Tripoli were rising sharply after strongman Moammar Gadhafi's defiant speech hinting at civil war with protesters in eastern Libya.
"He said people should either do what he tells them or there will be a civil war," she told reporters Wednesday as she arrived in Sofia on an evacuation flight. "People are very scared because there are many released prisoners walking drunk on the streets."
Two Turkish ships left the eastern Libyan port of Benghazi on Wednesday escorted by a navy frigate. They were heading to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Marmaris, where a soup kitchen and a field hospital were set up and buses were brought in to transfer evacuees. Turkey also sent two more ships to Libya and flew 250 more Turkish citizens back home.
Turkey has now evacuated over 5,300 citizens from Libya in the last three days.
"We are carrying out the largest evacuation operation in our history," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, adding that 21 countries other countries have asked Turkey to evacuate their citizens too.
Migrants also poured across Libya's land borders with Egypt and Tunisia on Wednesday, with vans piled high with luggage and furniture lining up at the Salloum border crossing with Egypt. Jemini Pandya, a spokeswoman for the U.N. migration agency, said thousands of migrants were fleeing Libya.
China was also gearing up for a massive evacuation of the 30,000 or more Chinese workers in Libya building railways, infrastructure and providing oilfield services. Greece was tapped to help evacuate around 13,000 Chinese workers to Crete by ship and China's first chartered evacuation flight left Wednesday for Libya.
Libyan leader Gadhafi has urged his supporters to strike back against Libyan pro-democracy protesters, escalating a crackdown that has led to widespread shooting in the streets. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the nationwide wave of anti-government protests — and possibly many more.
Libya is one of the world's biggest oil producers — responsible for nearly 2 percent of the world's oil — and many oil companies were evacuating their expatriate workers and families.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said about 170 British oil workers and colleagues from other nations were stranded in desert camps and unable to reach the evacuation flights.
"These camps are remote, they're isolated, they are scattered over a large distance, they're dependent for food or water on supplies from Libyan cities that have been severely disrupted by the violence and unrest," he said. "They are in a perilous and frightening situation."
Britain was sending two Boeing 757s to Tripoli to evacuate U.K. nationals, and will send a third Thursday if necessary. The royal navy frigate HMS Cumberland was arriving in international waters off Libya on Wednesday night, ready to assist evacuations if the violence escalates, Hague said.
Evacuation planes from Libya spread out across Europe.
The first planeload of evacuated Russians landed in Moscow, bringing 118 people, and three more planes were expected. A ship was also setting sail for Ras Lanuf, the site of Libya's largest refinery and port, to evacuate up to 1,000 Russians, Turks, Serbs and Montenegrins there.
Two French military planes evacuated nearly 400 foreigners to Paris from Libya, and a third plane was en route from France. Two Bulgarian planes returned Wednesday from Tripoli with nearly 200 passengers and Dutch citizens flew home on a military plane.
Hundreds of Italians took Alitalia flights from Tripoli home, and an Italian air force plane landed Wednesday to evacuate others. Two Italian naval vessels headed to eastern Libyan ports to rescue citizens from Benghazi, Misurata, and other cities where airports had been damaged.
Arriving at Madrid's Barajas airport on a nearly empty Libyan Airlines plane, Venezuelan oil engineer Cesar Orta said he had never witnessed violence but had heard it.
"You could hear gunshots or fireworks and hear people shouting. I wasn't afraid, but I never left my house at night," he said, adding that Tripoli was generally pro-Gadhafi.
Orta said the worst inconvenience was the intermittent Internet service and no working telephones, as well as not being able to understand Arabic-language television to know what was going on.
Carlos Dominguez, another passenger, said conditions were chaotic at Tripoli's airport, where people could not buy tickets online and Libyan Airlines was accepting only cash.
"The doors are locked and you can only get in if you have a ticket," he said.
Swarms of Egyptians who had lived in Libya were locked outside the airport, he said, "lying on the sidewalks with blankets and children" and all their belongings, even television sets.
"The army treats them very badly," he added.
Orta said the Libyans he had talked to think the unrest will die down in a week or so.
"They say things will be OK and that Gadhafi will sort things out," Orta said.
Dominguez, who worked as an architectural consultant in Tripoli, said the Libyans he knows were furious with the international community for its hands-off approach.
"People are very angry with the international attitude," he said.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Central African Republic president re-elected
BANGUI (AFP) – Francois Bozize has been re-elected president of the Central African Republic, according to provisional results released by the electoral commission on Tuesday.
The commission said Bozize received 66.08 percent of the vote in the January 23 poll, the outcome of which has already been rejected by three of the five candidates.
Counting began last week a day after the three -- former premier Martin Ziguele, ex-defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth and Emile Gros-Raymond Nakombo -- described the ballot as a "masquerade."
The trio, all members of the opposition Collective of Forces for Change (CFC), had demanded preconditions before the vote counting and later said they had not been notified the procedure had started.
Bozize had been tipped to win another term, with the president he ousted in 2003, Ange-Felix Patasse, his strongest challenger, but there have been complaints of irregularities and fraud.
Patasse came second with 20.10 percent of the vote, followed by Ziguele with 6.46 percent, Nakombo with 4.64 percent and Demafouth with 2.72 percent, the independent commission said.
Turnout was put at 54.01 percent. The results have to be validated within 15 days of the January 23 election by the constitutional court.
Government spokesman Fidele Ngouandjika declared: "It is a victory of democracy for someone who took power in a (2003) coup d'etat and who was legitimised by the ballot in 2005."
But disgruntled candidate Ziguele said he had "not even listened to or followed (the announcement).
"It's a non-event," he grumbled. "It's so crass and ridiculous. Now we will lodge a complaint and appeal to the constitutional court, but we're not fooled. The court will validate the results.
Icy Blast Closes Schools, Leaves Travelers Stranded
Power crews were preparing for outages after the ice storm.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A winter storm packed an icy punch, closing schools, knocking out power and stranding travelers on Tuesday.
The second round of freezing rain is expected to arrive in central Ohio on Tuesday evening and continuing for several hours. Get the latest forecast here.
Crews were bracing for power outages, which could be caused by falling limbs and ice-covered power lines.
Private contractors hired by AEP Ohio arrived from other states on Tuesday afternoon and were staging in Marion. They will wait for the storm's second round and be dispatched to locations with outages.
The company said it expects hundreds of line workers and damage assessors from eight southern states to travel to Ohio today in preparation for potential power outages due to accumulating ice and increasingly high winds. Customers can report outages at 800-277-2177 or online here.
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