Thesun 2009-04-13 Page08 Negotiation Break Down In Standoff With Pirates

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theSun

| MONDAY APRIL 13 2009

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Negotiations break down in standoff with pirates MOGADISHU: Pirates holding a US sea captain hostage on a lifeboat near Somalia could be preparing to transfer him to another ship yesterday as a leading US newspaper reported that talks aimed at freeing him had collapsed. The New York Times reported that the negotiations over captain Richard Phillips had broken down after US officials insisted that the pirates be arrested after Phillips’s return. Phillips has been held hostage since Wednesday, when the container ship he commanded, the Maersk Alabama, was intercepted by four pirates as it was transporting 5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for African refugees. Citing unnamed Somali officials, the newspaper said the negotiations with a group of elders representing the pirates broke down hours after the pirates had fired on a small US Navy vessel that had tried to approach the lifeboat in the Indian Ocean, on which Phillips is being held. The vessel returned to a nearby Navy destroyer, the Bainbridge, after the pirates fired warning shots in the air, the paper reported, citing an unnamed US military official. The official was quoted as saying the US ship did not return fire because it “did not want to escalate the situation.” State Department spokeswoman Laura Tischler declined late Saturday to confirm or deny the report. US Navy forces have poured into the region since the attack on the Maersk Alabama. The ship’s unarmed crew managed to regain control of the ship, but the pirates bundled Phillips into the lifeboat as they escaped. On Saturday, the ship docked at the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Crew members visible from the dock looked tired but happy. “The captain is a hero, he saved

our lives,” one of them said, before retreating back inside the vessel. Despite their ordeal, however, the crew was not allowed off the ship and the media was told to stay ashore while US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents debriefed crew members. “Because of the pirate attack, the FBI has informed us this ship is a

crime scene,” Maersk Line president John Reinhart told a press briefing in the US state of Virginia. Adrift in Indian Ocean and tracked closely by two US warships, the lifeboat carrying Phillips was now roughly 2032km from the Somali coastline, according to CNN. Overnight Thursday to Friday, Phillips tried to swim for the nearby

EPAPIX

Handout photo released by French Navy shows the owners of Tanit, Florent Lemacon, his wife Chioe (centre) and another member of the crew being held at gunpoint by armed pirates.

US destroyer the USS Bainbridge, but was recaptured by his abductors. Meanwhile, a pirate commander in the northern Somali town of Eyl told AFP by telephone that Phillips would be moved from the lifeboat to another ship off the Somali coast. Abdi Garad warned against using force to rescue Phillips. “I’m afraid this matter is likely to create disaster because it’s taking too long and we are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did,” Garad said. A US military spokesman in Washington declined to comment on how the US Navy would react if the pirates managed to transfer Phillips to another vessel. The pirates have demanded a US$2 million (RM7.5 million) ransom and safe passage to Somalia for his release, New York’s Daily News reported, adding that they threatened to kill him if the US Navy attacked. French Defence Minister Herve Morin defended Friday’s marine raid on a yacht in the region that left one hostage and two pirates dead. The marines moved in six days after the French yacht, the Tanit, was seized in the Gulf of Aden. Although they freed three adults and a three-year-old boy, the yacht’s owner Florent Lemacon, also the child’s father, was killed. An autopsy and investigation would determine what had happened, said Morin. He could not rule out that the fatal shot had come from the French forces. But speaking on French radio, he insisted: “We did everything to save the hostages’ lives.” Meanwhile, an Italian vessel became Saturday the latest hijacking victim in the Gulf of Aden. “Ten Italians, five Romanians and a Croat are on board,” Claudio Bartolotti of the boat’s owners Micoperi Marine Contractors told AFP from the company’s headquarters in Ravenna, northern Italy. Bartolotti said the announcement of the capture of the 75-metre Buccaneer came in an email that had probably been sent by the pirates themselves. It was the latest in a series of brazen raids in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, despite the presence of an international task force there to defend international shipping through the busy passage. – AFP

Thai deputy premier urges police, army to act » From Front Page Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932 and another one is certainly a possibility if there is blood in the streets. The cancelled summit and heightened tensions in the capital have undermined confidence in the government and dealt another blow to the economy, still reeling from last year’s political chaos and the global financial crisis, analysts said. Thaksin’s absence has not healed the divisions between on the one hand the royalist, military and business elite, who say he was corrupt, and on the other hand the poor, who benefited from his populist policies. Abhisit appeared on television to warn Thaksin’s supporters they face tough measures under the state of emergency. “We want to ask you to stop such action. It is necessary for the government to adopt the measures allowed in the emergency decree, in order to get the nation back to peace,” he said in a televised statement, hours after his car was attacked. Some armoured vehicles have appeared on the streets but no action has been reported. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep

Thaugsuban, who oversees security, urged the military and police to do their job. “Actions must be taken promptly and order be restored as soon as possible. Your superiors and I will take responsibility for all your actions,” he said in a statement on television. A Reuters journalist at the Interior Ministry said soldiers initially made no effort to stop protesters entering the premises but later fired into the air to stop others getting in. Some protesters had disabled the tracks of two armoured cars near police headquarters. Others danced on top of the vehicles. An army spokesman said the public should not be alarmed to see such vehicles. This was not a coup, but part of the security measures Abhisit has ordered, he said. Up to 300 police with riot shields were deployed about 200m from the demonstration at Government House – the focus of the protests since late March. Leaders of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said they were holding one of Abhisit’s security guards, claiming he had shot dead a protester at the ministry. Independent witnesses saw no

one shot and Abhisit’s spokesman, Thepthai Senpong, dismissed it as propaganda. A Reuters reporter saw the man’s badge, confirming he was part of Abhisit’s detail. He said the guard was badly beaten up when he was brought to the Government House site where demonstrators later treated his wounds. UDD leader Jakrapob Penkair said the Thaksin supporters were ready to defend themselves. “They are trying to force us into a people’s war. We will bring more people to Government House because the best way to defend ourselves is with numbers.” The demonstration in Bangkok had earlier appeared to be winding down as people left the capital ahead of the three-day Thai New Year holiday, but it ramped up again after the emergency was declared. A Reuters reporter saw more than 100 petrol bombs, wooden stakes and metal poles. Surgical masks were being handed out. Police said they had arrested Arismun Pongreungrong, a popular singer prominent in the UDD’s disruption of the summit, and were holding him at a police station north of Bangkok. – Reuters

Drugs, US guns on the table for Obama in Mexico MEXICO CITY: US President Barack Obama begins his first trip to Latin America in Mexico on Thursday amid promises to help tackle spiralling drug violence, a first trade dispute, and possible US immigration reform that could affect millions of Mexicans. Obama follows a flurry of highlevel US visits south of the border in recent weeks, marking a shift in the US stance toward Mexico’s drug cartel problem that implies shared responsibility, as violent Mexican gang activity is increasingly obvious in the United States. “For the first time in decades, the United States at the highest-ranking level has agreed to recognise coresponsibility in the drug trade,” said Rosanna Fuentes-Berain, editor of the Spanish edition of Foreign Affairs. During her Mexico trip last month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised financing for US-made Blackhawk helicopters on top of a US$1.4-billion (RM5.25 billion) US plan to help train and equip Mexican anti-drug forces known as the Merida Initiative, which still needs to be fully approved by Congress. But more than aid promises, Mexico has welcomed a change in tack. “The difference is insubstantial in terms of money,” Fuentes-Berain said. “What is important is the tone.” Clinton admitted US demand for illegal drugs and its inability to prevent weapons smuggling had contributed to 7,000 deaths in Mexico since the start of 2008. – AFP

Taiwan MPs move to legalise prostitution TAIPEI: Ruling party lawmakers in Taiwan vowed to press ahead with attempts to decriminalise prostitution after winning enough backing yesterday to introduce a bill to parliament. Their proposal aims to amend the existing law under which prostitutes are punished but their clients are not. Prostitutes face detention of three days or a fine of up to T$30,000 (RM3,330) if they are caught providing sex services. “Since prostitution is illegal, sex workers were often abused, and what’s more, when this happened, they dared not turn to police for help,” said Cheng Li-wen, the legislator behind the proposal. The proposal has been endorsed by legislators from more than 10 Kuomintang ruling party legislators, meaning it has passed the threshold for becoming a bill and would be discussed on the parliamentary floor, the United Daily News said. Opponents claimed that legalising the domestic sex industry would result in increased sex abuse in the country. However, Wang Fang-ping, a leading advocate for the rights of sex workers, hailed what she called “a small step forward” in decriminalising prostitution. While there is no official estimate of the scale of Taiwan’s sex industry, Wang said up to 800,000 people may be involved, with estimated annual revenue of at least T$60 billion (RM6.4 billion. – AFP