Thesun 2009-04-08 Page09 Somali Pirates On Hijacking Spree

theSun

| WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 2009

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Somali pirates on hijacking spree NAIROBI: Somali pirates seized ships from France, Britain, Germany, Taiwan and Yemen, defying world naval powers by prowling further out in the Indian Ocean to target victims. Ransom-hunting pirates equipped with skiffs, guns and grapnels took five ships in 48 hours, the two latest on Monday targeting a British cargo ship and a Taiwanese fishing vessel. At least 17 ships and more than 250 hostages are now in pirate hands. “There were two more hijackings today. There is one Italianoperated British-owned ship and a Taiwanese vessel near the Seychelles,” an official involved in regional piracy monitoring told AFP on condition of anonymity. The Seychelles government said it received a distress call saying that a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the MV Winfar 161, and its 29 crew was hijacked in its exclusive economic zone, north of Denis island. Transport Minister Joel Morgan said military forces had been deployed to intercept the pirates, amid reports that three more Taiwanese ships were trying to escape capture. The information centre of the European Union’s anti-piracy naval mission Atalanta confirmed the hijacking of the British Pana-

briefs Ex-president Fujimori found guilty LIMA: Peruvian former president Alberto Fujimori, 70, was yesterday declared guilty by a special court in Lima on charges of murder by an army death squad and kidnapping during his rule in the 1990s. “The charges have been proved beyond all reasonable doubt,” chief judge Cesar San Martin said. “Thus the verdict is a conviction,” he said. The finding sealed a high-profile 16-month trial of Fujimori, who had persistently declared his innocence and claimed he was the victim of political vengeance. Rights groups welcomed the trial result. – AFP

British govt website linked to porn site LONDON: Britain’s interior ministry homepage was mistakenly linked to a Japanese pornography website, a government spokesman said on Monday. The Home Office, which has since removed the link, was alerted to the issue by the BBC on Monday after a private internet user informed the broadcaster. “It was a link from the Home Office website to the Technical Advisory Board, which is an external website,” said a ministry spokesman. “It is their website that was hacked and re-directed to a porn site.” – AFP

Prisoner found in pieces in Mexican jail MEXICO CITY: Prison guards found the chopped up body of a convicted drug trafficker in three black bin bags in a central Mexico jail, a state

ma-flagged Malaspina Castle. “A 32,000 tonne UK-owned and Italian-operated bulk carrier was hijacked early this morning in the Gulf of Aden. Few details are known at this stage, but the mixed nationality crew are believed to be safe,” it said. The maritime administration in Sofia said 16 crew members were Bulgarians. Ecoterra International, an environment group monitoring illegal marine activities in the region, reported that a small French yacht was captured Saturday about 640km off Ras Hafun in northeast Somalia and was heading towards Somali Puntland. The French foreign ministry said it was checking the report but Ecoterra said brief satellite phone contact was made with the vessel on Sunday. “Local marine observers stated that the attack was reportedly launched from a captured Yemeni fishing vessel” in the Indian Ocean, Ecoterra’s statement said. A French official in Paris said the hostages were two couples and a small child. Hundreds of ransom-hunting Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships over the past year, mostly merchant vessels plying one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes. – AFP

official said on Monday. Authorities at the facility in Michoacan state found the body of a 36-year-old prisoner late on Sunday, after he was discovered missing from a roll call, said an official from the state prosecutor’s office. “They found him in pieces,” he said, adding that prison officials had opened investigations on his death. – AFP

Second Singaporean in coma after food poisoning SINGAPORE: A second Singapore woman has gone into a coma after suffering acute food poisoning a day after the first victim’s death, media reports said yesterday. Noraini Kasim, 59, is in a coma at a local hospital after having eaten from a local food stall last week. Comatose Aminah Samijo, 57, died on Monday in hospital, and Rosiah Samat, 38, lost her twomonth-old foetus in a miscarriage caused by a serious bout of diarrhoea and bleeding brought on after eating the same food. The highly popular food stall is under investigation. – dpa

Banker convicted of groping woman in bar HONGKONG: A senior HSBC banker has been convicted of indecent assault after drunkenly groping a woman in a Hongkong karaoke bar, a news report said yesterday. Michael Chan Chi-wang followed the 26-year-old woman into the washroom at the karaoke bar and grabbed her from behind, groping her breasts, the HongKong Standard reported. Chan begged her not to report the matter when she alerted the manager. At a hearing on Monday, Chan was found guilty of indecent assault and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service. – dpa