Tag: Seychelles

Britain will spend $870,000 Britain said this week it will spend $870,000 to fund an anti-piracy intelligence center in the Seychelles to help with international policing efforts.British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the measure Tuesday in London, saying it will be used to target "pirate kingpins" operating out of Somalia and the Horn of Africa."The establishment of a new intelligence coordination center will allow the international community to target the kingpins of piracy and ensure piracy does not pay," Hague said.The new Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecutions Intelligence Coordination Center will be used to collect and disseminate intelligence about pirate activity to tactical officers in the Gulf of Aden, then assemble obtained evidence and make it usable in court prosecutions.That way, pirate gang leaders based on land can better be brought to justice, Hague said."For too long, the international community has focused its efforts on the young desperate men who are sent out to sea, without seeking to hold to account those who finance and enable huge pirate operations," he said.The new intelligence center, however, "will ensure that is no longer the case."Also joining to fund its start-up are Interpol as well as the Seychelles and Dutch governments.Hague, speaking before the Thursday ...

A group of pirates caught by a Royal Navy operation in the Indian Ocean Fourteen suspected pirates captured by a Royal Navy task force will face justice in the Seychelles. The suspects, arrested earlier this month by RFA Fort Victoria on a hijacked dhow, were handed over to local authorities when the supply ship visited the islands at the weekend.RFA Fort Victoria - part of NATO's counter piracy task force Operation Ocean Shield - has handed over 14 suspects to the islands' authorities for prosecution.The fourteen Somalis were captured on January 13 by Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel embarked on RFA Fort Victoria.The suspected pirates, who were known to have been operating in the Indian Ocean, were intercepted on board a hijacked Yemeni fishing dhow.They were found to have a variety of pirate paraphernalia and weapons on board, including rocket-propelled grenades and hand-grenades.This is the culmination of four months of operations for the UK Counter-Piracy Task Group based on Fort Victoria and under the command of Captain Gerry Northwood."This has been a long four months of intensive counter-piracy operations during which time we have captured more than 30 pirates for prosecution and rescued 44 merchant mariners from the hands ...

China will consider turning to the Seychelles as a resupply port for navy ships China will consider turning to the Seychelles as a resupply port for navy ships taking part in anti-piracy operations off Africa, official media said, rejecting suggestions this would amount to a military base that could unsettle the region.Chinese ships participating in a multi-nation campaign against pirates striking out from Somalia have already used ports in Djibouti, Oman, and Yemen to repair and to take aboard supplies, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.A resupply port in the Seychelles, an island country in the western Indian Ocean 1,600 km (1,000 miles) off the African coast, could raise concerns in India, which has been wary of China's growing military reach.The Chinese Ministry of Defence, however, said the Seychelles proposal was still just under consideration."According to escort needs and the needs of other long-range missions, China will consider seeking supply facilities at appropriate harbours in the Seychelles or other countries," the ministry said on Monday, according to the China Daily."This approach is transparent, and there's no cause for worry," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters, referring to those discussions."China has no plans for establishing military bases abroad," ...

More attention to the situation in Somalia is needed The President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Michel, has made an appeal to world leaders to give more attention to the situation in Somalia as a matter of urgency, following the increase in piracy attacks and recruitment of pirates that are 'better armed, better organized and prepared to resort to more desperate measures.'"The reality of the situation in the Indian Ocean is that despite the reduction in the success rate of pirate attacks, the number of assaults continues to remain relatively constant, and in the Southern Indian Ocean even increase," said the President in his letters to world leaders.The President has sent letters detailing his concerns to the leaders of China, USA, India, Russia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, France, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Turkey, Finland, South Africa, Luxembourg, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, South Korea, the European Union, the United Nations and NATO.President Michel has made requests to the world leaders for a comprehensive approach to the Somali situation where the anti-piracy and anti-terrorist interventions are complemented by increased support in the peace-keeping mission of AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) as well as the establishment of ...

Britain to boost its fight against Somali piracy Britain is to boost its fight against Somali piracy by creating a new intelligence cell with the job of tracking the multi-million dollar money flows generated by buccaneering "kingpins".Ministers plan to despatch officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency to staff a new Indian Ocean unit dedicated to hunting pirate financiers, who provide start-up cash for gangs in return for the lion's share of ransom proceeds.A financier who offers as little $10,000 to equip a gang with skiffs, fuel and guns can easily expect a return of 10 or 20 times his money in the event of a successful hijacking.But while such profits are now believed to run into tens of millions of dollars a year, relatively little is known about exactly where the cash ends up, beyond a widespread acknowledgement that it makes the gangs ever more powerful, and may also line the pockets of Somalia's al-Shabaab Islamist movement."Pirate financiers are the kingpins of piracy," said Henry Bellingham, Foreign Office minister for Africa, who will announce details of the new centre in a speech to the Chamber of Shipping in London on Wednesday. "Effectively targeting them will have a huge ...

NATO's cooperation with the Seychelles Coast Guard The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) issued a news release stating that it is working with the Seychelles Coast Guard and other key actors in development of a cooperative approach to combating piracy as follows:NATO's counter piracy flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, has just completed a successful port visit to the Seychelles between September 30 and October 4, 2011. This visit focused on NATO's cooperation with the Seychelles Coast Guard and other key actors involved in combating piracy, as pirate activity is increasing after the monsoon season.The commander of NATO's counter piracy taskforce, Rear Admiral Gualtiero Mattesi engaged in a series of meetings with the Seychelles Defence Forces and local authorities to discuss cooperation between Victoria and NATO in the field of counter piracy. This is NATO's eighth visit to Port Victoria in 2011. Previous port visits this year have been opportunities for NATO and the Seychelles to share experiences and to conduct mutual counter piracy exercises.On this last occasion, Rear Admiral Mattesi and his staff visited the Seychelles' Coast Guards and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), two organisations deeply committed to counter piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean.Source: NATO

Seychelles for the first time will extradite a person suspected of piracy to Europe The Seychelles will extradite to Belgium a Somali suspected of involvement in a pirate attack on a Belgian frigate two years ago, prosecutors said Wednesday.The archipelago's interior minister made the announcement at an international conference that took place in the Seychelles last week, they said in a statement posted on the Internet."This will be the first time in the history of the Seychelles that it will extradite a person suspected of piracy to a European country," the statement said, adding "his fingerprints were found" on the hijacked vessel. The suspect is being held in a prison in the Seychelles. A Brussels court in June sentenced a second suspect in the same attack, Omar Mohammed Abdiwahad, to ten years' imprisonment in the country's first-ever piracy trial.Abdiwahad was captured in November 2010 off the Kenya coast by a Belgian ship taking part in a European Union counter-piracy mission, while attacking a vessel flying the Sierra Leone flag, and was later identified by the crew of the Belgian ship, the Pompei, as one of their hijackers. The frigate and its crew was released 71 days after it was captured ...

From 6 to 9 September 2011 A groundbreaking international anti-piracy conference will take place this week at the Le Meridien Barbarons hotel. Co-hosted by Seychelles and the South Asia and Africa Regional Port Stability Cooperative (SAARPSCO), the conference opens tomorrow and will run until Friday.The high-level meeting, the first of its kind, will serve as a catalyst for the international community to forge powerful global alliances, ultimately to defend the sea, one of the planet's most valuable treasures. In this unprecedented forum, to be held under the theme 'Piracy: Orchestrating Response', global leaders or "captains" from throughout the word will assemble to address the most vexing piracy issues.Representatives from key ministries in the Seychelles, as well as the Ports Authority and the Financial Intelligence Unit, will be joined at the conference by corporate and government leaders from throughout the European Union, New Zealand, South Korea, Mauritius, India, the United States and other partner nations, as well as the United Nations, INTERPOL, EUROPOL, and the US Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).The comprehensive agenda will cover key issues related to piracy, and workshops and panel discussions will include: The global challenge of piracy: Piracy, maritime security and information sharing. The impact of ...

Presidents signed a Protocol on Cooperation to Combat Maritime Security Threats President Mohamed Nasheed has met with the President of Seychelles James A. Michel yesterday. At the meeting held at the State House, the Official Presidential Residence of Seychelles, discussions were held on the close bilateral relations between the two countries, and ways to further strengthen these ties.President Nasheed briefed President Michel on the current status of the Maldivian economy, and the government's economic development plans. The President also highlighted on the tax bills and other bills the government has submitted to the Parliament, as part of the economic reform programme.The President of Seychelles commended President Nasheed for his accomplishments in the growth of the Maldivian economy.Following the meeting, a signing ceremony was carried out, where the Memorandum of Understanding on Fisheries Cooperation between the Government of Republic of Maldives and the Government of Republic of Seychelles, and the Protocol between the Government of Republic of Maldives and the Government of Republic of Seychelles on Cooperation to Combat Piracy and other Maritime Security Threats, were signed between the Maldivian and the Seychellois governments.The Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem signed the two agreements on behalf of the Maldivian government, while ...

Collaborations in the fight against piracy The Spanish Minister for Defense, Ms. Carme Chacon Piqueras, has pledged to step up collaborations with the Seychelles government in the fight against piracy afterparticipating in a meeting with the High Level Committee on Piracy (HLCP) earlier yesterday.During a brief working visit, Minister Chacon Piqueras and her delegation of high level government officials, met with the Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr. Joel Morgan, four private ship-owners, and other members of the HLCP, and agreed to establish a Bilateral Commission aimed at discussing the possibility of ship-owners operating in the region carrying high-caliber weapons onboard.This commission, which will include military and government officials, as well as private-sector representatives, will review the carrying of such weapons as a preventative measure, as part of a wider, multifaceted formula to combat piracy.Speaking at a press conference held at State House following a meeting with Seychelles President Michel, the Spanish Minister and Minister Adam said that reviewing such measures is a vital response to the increased sophistication of Somali pirates and key to protecting economic activity, which would also minimize the adverse effects of the cost of piracy on commodity ...