Pirates confirm Sudan shipment

2008-09-30 11:08

Nairobi - Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian freighter carrying military hardware said on Tuesday the weapons were headed for Sudan and not Kenya, and denied that three of their own were killed in a shootout.

"We are confirming that these weapons do not belong to the government of Kenya, but belong to southern Sudan," the spokesperson Sugule Ali said over satellite telephone from the ship.

"But whoever is the weapons' owner is not our problem, our problem is the $20m," he said, referring to their demands for ransom.

Nathan Christensen, spokesperson for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, said on Monday that the MV Faina - which its cargo of 33 Soviet-type combat tanks and other military hardware - was destined for a client in Sudan.

Both Kiev and Nairobi have denied Washington's claim, as did a Sudanese army spokesperson.

The ship, was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean last week on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, is currently being shadowed by US navy warships.

Kenya had said from the onset that the shipment was being delivered as part of a deal with Ukraine to update its military hardware.

The pirates have demanded millions of dollars to free the Belize-flagged ship, its cargo and crew of 21 consisting of Ukrainians, Russians and Latvians.

But the ship's captain died of an illness on board, according to Russian media.

'Not ransom'

"We are sticking to the demand for $20m. This is not ransom, but a fine for unlawfully transporting weapons on Somali waters," Sugule added.

The spokesperson denied claims by Andrew Mwangura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, that three pirates who killed in a shootout triggered by disagreement on what to with with the captured ship.

Mwangura said moderate and hardline pirates fought late on Monday.

"We are united as we were before and there was no fighting that took place among us," Sugule said.

"This is propaganda being spread by some people who are not aware of our situation. We are united in punishing those who abuse Somali waters."

Piracy along Somalia's long, unpatrolled coastline on the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden started years ago as an effort to deter foreign fishing boats depleting the country's maritime resources.

It has bloomed into a well-organised industry, with pirates armed to the teeth targeting anything from yachts to huge merchant vessels and demanding huge ransoms.

- AFP