MedeshiKenya arrests maritime source over Somalia piracy
02/10/2008
By Celestine Achieng
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan police said on Thursday they had arrested the head of a regional maritime group for "alarming" statements about the hijack of a Ukrainian ship off Somalia and the destination of its military cargo.
The detention of Andrew Mwangura, whose East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme monitors shipping in the region and promotes sailors' rights, heightened controversy around the seizure of the MV Faina by Somali pirates a week ago.
The pirates want $20 million to free the 20 crew members and cargo of 33 tanks, grenade-launchers and other weapons.
Mwangura angered local authorities by saying the weaponry, which was en route to Mombasa, was ultimately bound for South Sudan and not Kenya as Nairobi insists. That has embarrassed Kenya which brokered an end to Sudan's north-south war in 2005.
"Mwangura is in our custody and he will be appearing in court ... to be charged with using alarming statements," Mombasa chief detective Amos Tebeny said.
Mwangura was picked up by police and taken away in a convoy of six vehicles on Wednesday night from the offices of local Standard newspaper where he was due to give an interview.
He is expected to appear in court on Thursday or Friday.
About 50 heavily-armed pirates are holding the Faina offshore near Hobyo village. Several U.S. navy ships are watching it, and a Russian ship is approaching too.
The saga has highlighted rampant piracy off Somalia in the strategic Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean ship lanes.
COSTLY ATTACKS
Ransom negotiations are going on via satellite phone, maritime officials say. But with the international community increasingly angry over the disruption to trade, shippers are calling for tougher action against the pirates.
Taking advantage of chaos onshore, where an Islamist-led insurgency is raging, Somali pirates have attacked scores of boats this year and are still holding about a dozen.
British think-tank Chatham House said on Thursday piracy had cost shippers between $18-30 million in ransoms so far in 2008.
Mwangura says his information comes from families of pirates and crew, plus shipping groups round the region and beyond. But Kenyan officials say he has fallen for pirates' propaganda.
"The information that my client has been receiving has been coming from officials of the same union (seafarers programme) both in Ukraine and Russia," said his lawyer, Francis Kadima.
"My client has a right to free expression."
The U.S. navy said this week that it believed the arms were for South Sudan, and many Kenyans share that suspicion.
Leading local paper Daily Nation, quoting "impeccable sources in Kenya's military" said its investigations had shown Sudan was the probable destination.
Analysts say Kenya has traditionally bought such equipment from the West, so sourcing in Ukraine would be unusual.
Civil groups are starting to agitate. The Kenya National Youth Convention condemned "the reckless and dangerous conduct of national affairs by elements within the Government of Kenya and calls for an end to the importation of offensive weaponry."
(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
02/10/2008
By Celestine Achieng
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan police said on Thursday they had arrested the head of a regional maritime group for "alarming" statements about the hijack of a Ukrainian ship off Somalia and the destination of its military cargo.
The detention of Andrew Mwangura, whose East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme monitors shipping in the region and promotes sailors' rights, heightened controversy around the seizure of the MV Faina by Somali pirates a week ago.
The pirates want $20 million to free the 20 crew members and cargo of 33 tanks, grenade-launchers and other weapons.
Mwangura angered local authorities by saying the weaponry, which was en route to Mombasa, was ultimately bound for South Sudan and not Kenya as Nairobi insists. That has embarrassed Kenya which brokered an end to Sudan's north-south war in 2005.
"Mwangura is in our custody and he will be appearing in court ... to be charged with using alarming statements," Mombasa chief detective Amos Tebeny said.
Mwangura was picked up by police and taken away in a convoy of six vehicles on Wednesday night from the offices of local Standard newspaper where he was due to give an interview.
He is expected to appear in court on Thursday or Friday.
About 50 heavily-armed pirates are holding the Faina offshore near Hobyo village. Several U.S. navy ships are watching it, and a Russian ship is approaching too.
The saga has highlighted rampant piracy off Somalia in the strategic Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean ship lanes.
COSTLY ATTACKS
Ransom negotiations are going on via satellite phone, maritime officials say. But with the international community increasingly angry over the disruption to trade, shippers are calling for tougher action against the pirates.
Taking advantage of chaos onshore, where an Islamist-led insurgency is raging, Somali pirates have attacked scores of boats this year and are still holding about a dozen.
British think-tank Chatham House said on Thursday piracy had cost shippers between $18-30 million in ransoms so far in 2008.
Mwangura says his information comes from families of pirates and crew, plus shipping groups round the region and beyond. But Kenyan officials say he has fallen for pirates' propaganda.
"The information that my client has been receiving has been coming from officials of the same union (seafarers programme) both in Ukraine and Russia," said his lawyer, Francis Kadima.
"My client has a right to free expression."
The U.S. navy said this week that it believed the arms were for South Sudan, and many Kenyans share that suspicion.
Leading local paper Daily Nation, quoting "impeccable sources in Kenya's military" said its investigations had shown Sudan was the probable destination.
Analysts say Kenya has traditionally bought such equipment from the West, so sourcing in Ukraine would be unusual.
Civil groups are starting to agitate. The Kenya National Youth Convention condemned "the reckless and dangerous conduct of national affairs by elements within the Government of Kenya and calls for an end to the importation of offensive weaponry."
(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
