MOGADISHU (AFP) — The US Navy on Wednesday piled pressure on Somali pirates holding out for a 20 million dollar ransom for a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying tanks and other arms.
Warships from the United States and other navies have blockaded the MV Faina in a pirate lair off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.
The US Defense Department said it expected a Russian warship to arrive within days, and has laid the emphasis on ensuring a "peaceful resolution."
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed urged Somalis and the international community to combat rising piracy off the lawless nation's waters, which has seen 60 ships seized this year alone.
"They (pirates) are imposing an embargo on the Somali people and the international community because they are blocking movement between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, which affects not only Somalia but the whole world," Yusuf said at a press conference in Mogadishu.
"I call on the Somali people to fight against the pirates. I also call on the international community to act quickly on what is happening in Somali waters as well as on shore," he added.
In Moscow, Somali ambassador Mohammed Mahmud Handule welcomed Russia's help to fight piracy, saying that Yusuf has allowed "Russian ships to enter the sea (off Somalia) and fight the pirates in the sea and on the coast."
A Russian frigate from the Baltic fleet was dispatched last week following the capture of the Faina, which has Russian seamen in its crew.
The pirates, who seized the Belize-flagged freighter with its 21-man crew and 33 Soviet-era T-72 battle tanks last Thursday, say they are under 24-hour surveillance from US ships and helicopters.
"We are prepared for any eventuality," warned pirate spokesman Sugule Ali, by satellite telephone from the ship.
Andrew Mwangura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, said Tuesday that three pirates were killed during a shootout after a disagreement on what to with the ship.
"The pirates are paranoid, the situation is very tense in the ship. That is why we are asking the naval ships to pull back and pave the way for negotiations," Mwangura told AFP.
But the pirates' spokesman denied there had been any fighting or deaths and dismissed the claims as "propaganda."
The Bahrain-based US Navy Fifth Fleet said several ships and helicopters were in the area to support the destroyer USS Howard as it observed its target, now docked at the Somali port village of Hobyo.
Abdikadir Musa Yusuf, deputy seaports minister for the Somali breakaway region of Puntland, said, "There are negotiations going on between the pirates and the foreign ships."
The Pentagon said it wanted a peaceful resolution and US warships were there to make sure pirates do not make off with its military cargo.
"But at this point, what we are most concerned about is seeing a peaceful solution to this problem," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said, adding that US Navy was not negotiating with the pirates.
He said the main US concern was "that this cargo does not end up in the hands of anyone who would use it in a way that would be destabilising to the region."
There are 21 Ukrainians, Russians and Latvians in the crew. The ship's captain died of an illness on board, according to Russian media.
"We are sticking to the demand for 20 million dollars. This is not ransom, but a fine for unlawfully transporting weapons on Somali waters," Ali said.
The pirates and the US Navy say the arms were headed for Sudan. The Ukrainian owners of the freighter and the Kenyan government said the tanks were destined for Kenya.
Piracy is rife and well organised in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil transits.
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