Monday
1 Dec 2008
Pirates Take 2 Western Journalists Hostage
By Annie Jacobsen in category Behind the Scenes, The Al-Qaeda Threat
Pirates in the Somali port city of Eyl, located in the Puntland region, have taken two Western journalists hostage, reports CNN.
The journalists were apparently working on a story about the increasingly dangerous pirate situation in an increasingly volatile region rife with warlords and terrorists who, thanks to ransom payments, now have at least a $150 million war chest.
Anyone for a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore via pirate territory? Luxury Cruise Ship Outruns Pirates.
A 30,000-ton luxury cruise ship outran pirates off the coast of Yemen this weekend, the ship’s owner said Monday.
The Oceania Nautica was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracytask forces when two small skiffs appeared to try to intercept it, Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said.
The ship took evasive maneuvers and accelerated tospeed, but one of the smaller craft closed to within 300 yards and fired eightrifle shots at the cruise ship, he said.