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Ship Owner in Talks with Somali Pirates
The Somali pirates holding the cargo ship MV Faina are now engaged in direct bilateral negotiations with the owners of the ship, the Associated Press reports, citing Somali Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohamed Jama Ali. The Faina is carrying 33 Ukrainian-made tanks and other weapons. Its crew consists of one citizen of Latvia, three Russians and 12 Ukrainians. The Belize-registered ship’s Russian captain, Vladimir Kolobkov, died of a heart attack after the ship’s capture.
Ukrainian Supreme Rada Ombudsman for Human Rights Nina Karpacheva stated on Wednesday that the ship’s owner is Israeli citizen Vadim Alperin. The weapons on the ship were sold by the state Ukrspetsexport company.
The pirates are demanding $20 million in ransom to release the ship and its crew. They threaten to kill the crew members if force is used to recover the ship. The Somali Foreign Ministry spokesman also said that the country has granted foreign naval forces permission to use force to free the Faina, as long as Somali authorities are informed in advance. There are several American warships in the area observing the situation and preventing the Somalis from unloading the weapons from the ship. U.S. representatives have state that they will not use force against the ship.
The Russian ship Neustrashimy is also sailing toward the area of the incident. Aide to the chief commander of the Russian Navy Igor Dygalo stated that the Russian ship will not use force against the pirates without extreme necessity. Reports had appeared in the press earlier that the Russian ship intended to attack the pirates.
www.kommersant.com
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