JEDDAH: The Council of Ministers yesterday expressed deep concern over the surge in pirate attacks along the coast of Somalia. It was reacting to the hijacking of Saudi Aramco supertanker, the Sirius Star, by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 15.
"The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, discussed various measures to curb such criminal activities," Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani told the Saudi Press Agency.
In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Moussa took a similar line. He said Arab countries should deploy their own naval forces to fight the escalating piracy in the Horn of Africa.
"There should be a joint Arab force based on the letter and spirit of the Arab conventions," Moussa told reporters, referring to the Arab League's defense pact. "Piracy is affecting the Arab countries' security, interests and their economies."
The leader of Somali pirates holding the Sirius Star denied yesterday that the hijackers had lowered their ransom demand, insisting they still wanted $25 million for the ship's release.
"We have not changed the amount of the ransom, it remains at exactly $25 million. If we want to change it, it will have to be agreed unanimously with all the people involved," Mohamed Sayeed told AFP. Earlier reports suggested the ransom demand had been reduced to $15 million.
Sayeed was reached by phone in the coastal village of Haradheere where the Sirius Star was anchored after its capture. He warned against any forceful rescue of the huge tanker carrying around $100 million worth of crude oil.
"We are moving the ship from time to time and from place to place for tactical reasons. It's like a war game. We are not taking the ship too far," said Sayeed. "We still have enough people on the ground and on the ship. Nobody can terrorize us. Any attempt to take the ship by force is futile."
One of the Somali pirates told the BBC they have no intention of harming the 25 crew members. The man, calling himself Daybad, spoke to the BBC's Somali Service via telephone from the Sirius Star. He said the ship's crew members were being treated humanely.
"The crew members are fine. We are treating them according to the charter of how you treat prisoners of war. They are allowed to contact their families. They are not prisoners, they can move from place to place, wherever they want to, they can even sleep on their usual beds and they have their own keys. The only thing they are missing is their freedom to leave the ship."
Daybad said the pirates were fully aware of the consequences of their actions, but the lack of peace in Somalia and the plunder of its waters by foreign fishing trawlers had driven them to piracy. "Our fish were all eradicated so we can't fish now. So we're going to fish whatever passes through our sea because we need to eat."
A spokesman for Vela International, the shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, condemned journalists for trying to get in touch with the pirates. "We strongly urge the media not to make any attempt to contact our vessel as it stands to compromise the safety and welfare of our crew members," the spokesman told Arab News on phone from Dubai. "It is very unfortunate."
By Samir Al-Saadi
© Arab News 2008
