A ship carrying relief supplies to war-torn Somalia was captured by Islamist militants two motnths ago. Unfortunately, the mostly Kenyan crew is still being held hostage. Many Somali 'militias' have close ties to al Qaeda. It was an al Qaeda trained militia that fought American soldiers in the Mogadishu battle made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down.

All Africa:

An American-based lobby group has joined in efforts to secure the release of eight Kenyans being held hostage by Somalia militiamen, the Sunday Nation learnt yesterday.

The eight were among 10 seamen in captivity after their vessel was detained in the war-torn country...

We are now busy trying to have the ship hijacked in Hobyo region released. We have had telephone conference with WFP about that," Mr Jamal said an e-mail.

It is now nearly two months since the vessel Mv Semlow and its 10 crew members were taken hostage.

The crew members include a Sri Lankan captain, Mr S. Mahalingham, a Tanzanian engineer, Mr Juma Mvita Juma....

The Kenyans in captivity include: Mr Ogutu (seaman), Mr Mohammed Shee (chief officer), Mr Juma Rajab Mwakidimu (cook), Mr Hassan Abdalla Sudi (bosun), Mr Mwinyi Juma, Mr Gregory Musyoka and Mr Juma Mwinyi Pempe (greasers), and Mr Rashid Juma.

Since they were taken hostage, the ship's agents, the WFP and the Government have made efforts to secure the release of the vessel and its crew without success.

A series of negotiations have been going on since the ship was hijacked while ferrying a consignment of relief food to survivors of last December's Tsunami flooding in Bossaso.

The 850 tonnes of rice the vessel was carrying was a donation of the WFP, a UN agency.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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