Somalia Accepts Foreign Help against Pirates

Somalia’s interim President Abdullahi Yusuf has allowed the US and Russian navies to use force to subdue pirates who hijacked a ship carrying tanks and other military equipment reportedly being transported to Kenya. The pirates are still holding the MV Faina a few miles off eastern Somalia, and have asked for a $20 million ransom for the release of the vessel and its 13 crew members. The Ukrainian  vessel, which was hijacked last Thursday, is carrying  33 battle tanks and other military hardware that the Kenyan government has officially claimed, but is rumoured to be destined for semi-autonomous South Sudan. With Somalia having wobbled without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Siad Barre, pirates have made the country’s waters among the world’s most dangerous.[PE]