Daily News Channel
A Somali suspect in the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama last month has been indicted on 10 counts including piracy, hostage-taking and firearms charges, officials said Tuesday. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse faces life in prison if convicted of eight of the 10 counts, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
Some of the worst fighting to hit Somalia’s capital city in recent months uprooted nearly 34,000 people in less than a week, according to a United Nations report released Monday.
Clashes between Somalia’s transitional government and the Al-Shabab militia left 103 people dead and 420 others wounded, Somali officials said Friday. The fighting in Mogadishu between the rebel group and the government has raged for nine days, said Farhan Ali Mohamud, information minister of the Somali government. The new round of fighting stems from an interpretation of sharia law, or Islamic law, the spokesman said
The head of a shipping company recently victimized by pirates off the Somali coast told lawmakers Tuesday that U.S. cargo crews should be allowed to arm themselves in response to the rising hijacking threat
Mortar rounds slammed into Somali parliament on Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring 15, sources in Mogadishu told CNN.
Women in Somalia’s third-largest city, Baidoa, have been ordered to wear Islamic dress starting this week or face jail time, according to a resident and Somali media reports. The order — issued last week by Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist militia that controls the city — also warns business owners to close their shops during daily prayers, or they will be temporarily shut down, a local journalist said.
Have we awakened a sleeping giant or stood up, at long last, to a local bully? President Obama’s decision last weekend to authorize force against the Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips brought the end of a crisis, but it may be the beginning of a longer military effort
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday unveiled a diplomatic initiative to thwart attacks on ships off Somalia’s coast and combat what she called the "scourge of piracy." Clinton said the State Department will “explore ways to track and freeze pirate assets,” similar to measures used against drug traffickers and terrorists. Noting that the pirates have been buying more sophisticated vessels with the ransom money they have been collecting, Clinton said it could be possible to stop boat-building companies from doing business with pirates. “These pirates are criminals
One of the main stumbling blocks to talk with Iran has been the condition that Iran suspends its uranium enrichment. Now, the Obama administration may take that option off the table, at least for now. “The pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, which sustained damage,” said a statement from New York-based Liberty Maritime Corporation, which owns the vessel
The rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, the American sailor held hostage by Somali pirates, came to a dramatic and happy conclusion on Sunday night off the coast of Africa. However, the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden remains — and may only be getting worse.