Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): May 30, 2011

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 20 Jun 2011 18:53

sum wrote:^^ DnA paper mentioned "sources" mentioning that the Babur crew were shouting anti-Indian slogans while doing dangerous maneuvers near the Godavari and this has riled up IN even more..

Doesn't IN claim to have photos and videos?

ranjbe · Post by **ranjbe** » 20 Jun 2011 19:33

AoA, TSP has now slipped down in failed state rankings to #12.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _hell_2011

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 20 Jun 2011 19:41

BTW this week from Jumma to Jumma is definitely going to cross 72. Paki population control is gathering speed.

As per AfPak website 48 so far!

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 20 Jun 2011 19:46

ISI's terror links to be focus of Indo-Pak talks

New Delhi: Terrorism will be the "central point" of New Delhi's agenda when the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries meet in Islamabad on Thursday, external affairs Minister SM Krishna said on Monday, adding that India will also take up the issue of Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley's revelations about the terror links of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

He admitted at the same time that incidents like the confrontation at sea between a Pakistani and an Indian naval warship could become an irritant in the talks. "Of course, terrorism is the central point of our interaction with Pakistan," Krishna told reporters before leaving for Myanmar on a three-day visit.

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao will be in Islamabad June 23-25 for talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir. "This menace (of terrorism) has to be dealt with firmly and in a transparent manner for the common good of India and Pakistan and the region beyond," Krishna said.

But he underlined that "in the kind of talks we are going to be involved with, patience is something to be called for". Krishna also asserted that India will raise the issue of Headley's revelations during the foreign secretaries' meeting.

"Whatever Headley has revealed under oath in a court of law in Chicago, would be relevant for the government of India to take up with Pakistan and then try to get Pakistan's response to that. Well, that certainly will be taken up with Pakistan," Krishna said.

Headley, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the Mumbai terror attack, claimed that the ISI and LeT separately gave him identical instructions to scout Mumbai locations to be attacked. Besides, the two foreign secretaries are expected to talk on various subjects, including the Kashmir dispute.

"We have to be patient, realistic and positive. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said on more than one occasion, peace and prosperity of South Asia is interlinked," Krishna said. The minister sounded unhappy over the recent brush between an Indian and a Pakistani warship in the Gulf of Aden.

Pakistan says that its PNS Babar was escorting to Oman an Egyptian carrier freed by Somali pirates June 14 when INS Godavari came dangerously close by. The incident led Pakistan to protest -- and India to deny the accusation.

"It is not desirable that such instances (take place)... On one hand, we are trying to improve our relationship, on other hand, such solitary instance takes place which become cause for irritant for the talks. "If there is any misunderstanding between the two countries on this score, I think it is necessary to sort them out," he said.

Krishna also expressed frustration at the pace of the trial in Pakistan against some masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack . "Our trial (of sole surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab) has concluded and an appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. And virtually, their trial has not even started. I think examination of witness has begun yet. It is a sad commentary on what is happening there," he said.

Krishna added that India has been constantly raising this point with Pakistan. "Whatever occasion we get, we always convey that it is necessary that the trial should be hastened. The process should become quicker and the people who are involved in the heinous crime against Mumbai and India should be brought to justice," the foreign minister said.

Krishna added that India will also keep "pursuing" the extradition of Indian nationals taking refuge in Pakistan, including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. On the reported talks with Taliban, Krishna reasserted that this should be within the "redlines" prescribed by the international community.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Jun 2011 19:46

ranjbe wrote:AoA, TSP has now slipped down in failed state rankings to #12.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _hell_2011

they were at 10 last year.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2011 19:51

ranjbe wrote:AoA, TSP has now slipped down in failed state rankings to #12.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _hell_2011

Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka are in the list. Bhutan is at #50. 'tis a bad neighborhood.

saip · Post by **saip** » 20 Jun 2011 20:00

ranjbe wrote:AoA, TSP has now slipped down in failed state rankings to #12.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _hell_2011

Unfortunately that is good.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 Jun 2011 20:50

ramana wrote:Something to watch for as prelude to the Colonels coup is any unusual air movements, activity at PAF bases that have the clown jewels, any movement of armored columns for re-deployment, cancellation of leave etc.

Also after PNS Mehran, its likely that AlQ or Pakiban already have pried some jewels.
Not necessarily from PNS Mehran but other places.

Its message of power and impunity to TSPA.

The sister services TSPN and Fizzleya have become more jihadi it counter the TSPA primacy in pecking order.

Again case of more green taking out less green.

Not to lose track off in the MV Suez caper. Who knows if it was ferrying stuff out of TSP?
Seems that the master was keen to scuttle the ship.

If its not to much I would send divers to examine the wreckage a la Thunderball.

Manny · Post by **Manny** » 20 Jun 2011 21:07

Acharya wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCL0lp82Yic

Former Pakistan ISI director Hamid Gul talks with Alex about drone strikes in his country and the expansion of attacks elsewhere in the war on terror.

Check how the Pak generals are put on pressure by US generals

The best part was...! Hamid's Gul's grand son has his visa rejected! LOL and he was bemoaning that fact.

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 20 Jun 2011 21:14

What timestamp for the visa rejection whine? Don't want to watch the whole thing right now.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 20 Jun 2011 21:18

ramana wrote:Not to lose track off in the MV Suez caper. Who knows if it was ferrying stuff out of TSP?
Seems that the master was keen to scuttle the ship. If its not to much I would send divers to examine the wreckage a la Thunderball.

Supposedly bags of cement to Eritrea. There must be a great reconstruction effort underway in Eritrea. I wonder what else can pass for cement or cement bags....? We must not let this issue die out. I hope "people that matter" read BRF.

kancha · Post by **kancha** » 20 Jun 2011 21:18

Nandu, it is 12.50 onwards. Try and watch the entire vid whenever u have the time.

arun · Post by **arun** » 20 Jun 2011 21:23

The Police of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan claim that the IEDology of Pakistan, in particular the IED Mubarak variant, is spreading to infect the child population of that failing state.

Nine year old female child allegedly forced to wear a suicide vest.

Propaganda by the less pure uniformed Jihadi’s belonging to the Military dominated Deep State of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to malign the more pure un-uniformed Jihadi’s or is this a case of the inevitable and wholly natural propagation of the IED Mubarak variant of the IEDology of Pakistan

:

Pakistan militants force girl to wear suicide vest

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 20 Jun 2011 21:26

kancha wrote:Nandu, it is 12.50 onwards. Try and watch the entire vid whenever u have the time.

This is the way they turn people who are their legitimate friends against them!

Hamid Gul has really fallen a lot, from an Islamist Ghazi to a scholarship beggar!

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 21:31

ramana wrote: Not to lose track off in the MV Suez caper. Who knows if it was ferrying stuff out of TSP?
Seems that the master was keen to scuttle the ship.

If its not to much I would send divers to examine the wreckage a la Thunderball.

Saar MV Suez was hijacked by Somali pirates last October i.e. its cargo was loaded 10 months ago. Not sure there were signs of a coup in motion at the time or if there were plans to shift the maal out at that time. Also a ship with Egyptian owners, Indian and other nationality as crew would make it that much more difficult to move restricted maal. TSPians have better options to move maal as they routinely move narcotics out of TSP ports. They have in the past moved maal related accessories from NoKo, Libya and Iran without anyone catching them in the act (except one time).

IMHO TSPians paid ransom for the crew's lives and made a deal with the pirates to have the boat scuttled in mid ocean so that TSPN gets credit for saving crew lives where as the insurance will pick up the cost of the ship and cargo. Look at how the Egyptian owners have abondened their ship. They are sure to be compensated by their insurance hence do not give a damn about their boat and same for the Cement factory owners and their shipping agents who also are being compensated by insurance. Otherwise imagine the hue and cry that would be heard from TSP against the world for not doing its bit to help TSP earn a honest days wages.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 20 Jun 2011 21:39

maybe the MV suez was supposed to be shipping yellow cake from the horn of africa to puquiville?
(the original voyage could have been anything, but then it may have been repurposed post piracy)

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 21:43

Lalmohan wrote:maybe the MV suez was supposed to be shipping yellow cake from the horn of africa to puquiville?
(the original voyage could have been anything, but then it may have been repurposed post piracy)

We must wait till Indian crew have safely returned home and have been debriefed. IMHO they will provide better answers than us speculating.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 Jun 2011 21:46

Can some one with access to ship movements look at the MV Suez's past five years of movements?

Biju with TSP never rule out anything. Maybe they were using it to transport something. Not necessarily directly related to coup.

And the Egyptian owners are they MB free?

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 20 Jun 2011 21:48

This is the way they turn people who are their legitimate friends against them!

Hehehe....as I posted there is much posturing by Pakistanis.....offspring of terrorists aspire to be in Amreeka, no Paki dreams of being Beijing-returned. That is what galls Pakis, that gorons are making common cause with the stand-offish Hindus whilst their desert co-ideologues have to make due with Cheenis.

There is much for psy-ops here.

HAHAHAHA

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 20 Jun 2011 21:51

Acharya wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCL0lp82Yic. Former Pakistan ISI director Hamid Gul talks with Alex about drone strikes in his country and the expansion of attacks elsewhere in the war on terror.

Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist extraordinaire. Meet Gen. Hamid (pbuh) Gul, conspiracy theorist of the fourth paki dimension. Made for each other.

In 1998, Jones organized a successful effort to build a new Branch Davidian church as a memorial to those who died during the 1993 fire that ended the government's siege of the original Branch Davidian complex near Waco, Texas. He often featured the project on his Public-access television program and claimed that Koresh and his followers were peaceful people who were murdered by Attorney General Janet Reno and the ATF during the siege. Jones has directed and produced a number of videos detailing his theories of a "New World Order" and his concerns that U.S. national sovereignty and constitutional rights have both been eroded as a result.

- Source - wiki.

raajneesh · Post by **raajneesh** » 20 Jun 2011 22:17

Paki MV Suez might be delivering anti-ship weaponized "gears" to somalian pirates, for use against western navies, under the guise of hijacking.

There has been reports of somalian pirates getting trained by Pakistani Navy a year before. Also, looking at her record of nuke-proliferation, this is a real possibility.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2011 22:29

Madrassa math:
Economic Survey of Pakistan referenced on Chai Ghar:
http://pakteahouse.net/2011/06/20/highl ... stan-2011/

Math on display:
(1) Per capita income increased by 16.9%
“Per capita income in dollar term rose from $ 1073 last year to $ 1254 in 2010-11, thereby showing tremendous increase of 16.9 percent.”

(2) Population increased by 1.6% (as per the CIA World Factbook). Most web sources quote a figure >2%.

Since GDP = population * per capita income, this would suggest a tremendous economic growth (18.7% in dollar terms) Since dollar inflation was between 2-4%, the real GDP growth rate would be 14% or better.

(3) “The Real GDP is estimated to grow at 2.4 percent on the back of strong performance of services sector as against actual growth of 3.8 percent last year and target of 4.5 percent.”

----
Some search revealed this in Dawn:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/per-capi ... 207-2.html
More math on display:

As per statistics, it was claimed that the growth in population fell to 2.08 per cent in 2010-11 from 2.11 per cent in the year 2009-10. This decline in population is also claimed to have led to rise in per capita income.

Coming to some harder numbers:

In rupee terms, the per capita income grew by 19.8 per cent to Rs102,000 in the fiscal 2010-11 as against Rs85,000 in 2009-10. By taking exchange rate at an average of Rs84.5 against a dollar the per capita income climbed to $1,207 per person this year.

In the very same article:

As a result of stagnation in economic growth in the past three years, the per capita income also did not witness any substantial growth in dollar term.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 22:42

ramana wrote:Can some one with access to ship movements look at the MV Suez's past five years of movements?

Biju with TSP never rule out anything. Maybe they were using it to transport something. Not necessarily directly related to coup.

And the Egyptian owners are they MB free?

From this article (posting in full without the pictures) there are lots of details about the owners, the ships history and the reasons why the ship owners abandoned her.
The Liberation Of The MV Suez And Its Bitter End - An Incredible Pirate Story

(Updated on June 20)

If a story of a pirated ships near Somalia ever makes it into a movie, this is the one that would make for the most incredible and excellent action script. It involves a ten month long crew ordeal, ever increasing ransom demands, arrested mercenaries and a fight between two hostile navies which both want to appear as savior of the pirated crew.

The Ship
The MV Suez was captured by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on August 2 2010. It was freed a week ago after a quite dramatic story but its ordeal did not end there. It still had to nearly create an international military conflict and more sad sea drama.

MV SUEZ was travelling in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) when attacked. Immediately after the first report a helicopter was directed to the ship but pirates had already taken over the command of the vessel. The MV SUEZ, deadweight 17,300 tonnes with a crew of 23 (Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India Nationalities), is a Panama flagged merchant vessel with a cargo of cement bags. EU NAVFOR is monitoring the situation.

Later reports vary between 22 and 28 crew member, six Indians, eleven to thirteen Egyptians, four Pakistanis and one to four Sri Lankan.

The MV Suez, IMO 8218720, is a multi-purpose/heavy lift cargo ship which was build in the East German Warnow shipyard in 1984. The ships ownership has changed quite often. It sailed earlier as Torm Texas, Industrial Champion, Cte Cinta, Amsterdam, Nedlloyd Amsterdam, Sevastaki (pic), Evi (pic), Eastern Moon and Rahim (pic).

This ship is owned and operated by an Egyptian company, Red Sea Navigation, but flagged in Panama.

MV Suez was on her way from Pakistan to Eritrea. She is old, much abused and has likely only scrap value. The cement cargo is not really valuable either. Who would pay a six or seven figure to free such a ship and its crew?

The Egyptian ship owners, Abdel Meguid Matar and Mohamed Sobhi, would not. They would not even put up the crew's pay to support their families. At the end of August 2010 Egyptian family members of the crew sued the owners to pay the demanded ransom, $1 million, and some went into hunger strike. But month after month passed without any success.

Somali news source Ahram Online reported Dec. 15 that pirates turned down a ransom payment of $500,000 for the release of the MV Suez because the offer “came too late,” according to the ship’s engineer. The pirates then increased their ransom demand to $1.1 million.

The Political Issue
As month after month went by and the cases of the MV Suez sailors and their families grew -via the local media- into interior political issues in India as well as in Pakistan.

The Indian government tried to apply pressure on the owner via the Egyptian government. When another deadline was set by the pirates to March 11 2011 and went by without any payment, the interior political pressure increased:

The families and relatives of the abducted sailors, who have lost all hopes, are going to hold a protest rally in New Delhi Thursday against the "silence of the government" on the matter. The protestors will march from Jantar Mantar to the Parliament House. At the same time, the opposition parties led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are putting pressure on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to deal with the issue in a serious manner.

But the Indian government still showed no urgency to solve the problem.

In Pakistan someone acted. Late in February the Pakistani human rights advocate Ansar Barney made phone contact with the pirates and started his own negotiations. He is a former minister and a UN Expert Adviser on human rights. When the ransom deadline had passed without the ship owner paying, Barney was said to meet the shipowner in Egypt to discuss a combined ransom payment.

The Ansar Barney Welfare Trust, a humanitarian NGO, started to collect the demanded $1.1 million to free the sailors. An Indian national living in Dubai was reported to be willing to contribute $500,000.

At the end of April the Indian government established an Inter-Ministerial-Group to handle the cases of the then 46 Indians in the captivity of Somali pirates. Local political pressure continued to build.

In Pakistan the governor of Sindh province and a Citizen-Police-Liaison Committee got involved with Barney on the issue. Together they flew to Dubai for negotiations on the issue.

Somewhere along the Egyptian owners of the ship became furious about the court cases by the families of the Egyptian crew members on board of the MV Suez. The owners backtracked on a promise to pay some share of the ransom they had earlier agreed to.

Also somewhere along the ransom demand seems to have been again increased from the earlier reported $500,000 and $1.1 million to $2.1 million.

Freeing The Ship
In May the money Ansar Barney had collected by then was to be transferred to the pirates in a secret mission by the British mercenary company Salama Fikira. On May 24 a Cessna Citation business jet flew with the ransom money from the Seychelles to Mogadishu, Somalia. There it met a Cessna Caravan single engine plane which came from Nairobi, Kenia and was modified for the actual money drops onto the pirated ships. The planes flew under cover of an UN humanitarian evacuation mission and were supposedly coordinated with Somali authorities.

But when the mercenaries landed in Somalia on to transfer the money between the planes for delivery to the MV Suez and another ship, the MV Yuan Xiang, they were held up and the money was seized by Somali security forces at the Mogadishu airport. The six men transfer team, 3 Brits, 2 Kenyan and 1 American were arrested.

This was a surprise as money transfers like this one are routine and are usually coordinated with the government (which likely takes a share) and the airport guards are supposed to protect the transfer missions.

Another pirate deadline on June 1 was moved to June 11 because no other plane could be found to drop the money to the pirated ship. In phone calls the crew now claimed that the pirates started to torture them.

Despite the money reportedly still being in the hands of the Somali government, not the pirates, the ship was finally set free:

[T]he foreign security team arrested for bringing in $3.6 million in ransoms for two ships was due to appear in court in Mogadishu on Thursday. The team's lawyer was looking to get all six bailed, providing an aircraft and the money in Somalia's central bank as security. Details have yet to emerge from the appearance. Reports the money is still in the bank has not stopped the release of the two ships it was destined for. The MV Yuan Xiang was released last week, while the second vessel the money was reportedly heading too, the MV Suez, gained freedom on Saturday [June 11].

Why would the pirates, after such a long time, let the ships go when the ransom money was still in the hands of the Somali government? Could there be some cooperation between them? Or was there an additional money transfer?

The ship owner and the freight owner seem not to have paid anything. The Pakistani claim that the Indian who was supposed to come up with a $500,000 share of the money did not show up when the money was to be transferred and that all the money was collected in Pakistan. Pakistan was quite proud about this while the Indian government was criticized over the lack of action from its side.

Still the drama was, by far, not over.

Navy Collisions
When the ship was freed on June 11 it sailed off towards Salalah in Oman. The Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Abdel-Hakam said that all steps were taken to ensure the safe arrival of the ship at the port.

Three days later he got egg on his face when MV Suez was again attacked by pirates. The crew fended off the pirate attack and via radio asked an Indian military ship for help which, the crew said, was denied.

Pakistan sent the PNS Babur, a 40 year old former British frigate, to escort the MV Suez. On its way PNS Babur was also attacked by pirates but drove them off.

India sent its own ship, the guided-missile frigate INS Godavari, to escort the MV Suez.

At that point, around June 14/15/16, a competition evolved between India and Pakistan on who would escort the MV Suez (Indian TV video). Both had already claimed they were escorting the MV Suez when it was fending off a pirate attack on its own.

But it was the PNS Babur which fended off yet another pirate attack on the MV Suez.

The wife of one of the Indian seaman on board of the MV Suez talked with him by phone. (Indian TV interview). The Captain has diabetes and isn't well. Two other person are very ill, she says dying. Food is a problem as is fuel. She says the ship was twice attacked by pirates after its release and that the second attack was repelled by the PNS Babur.

There was more trouble to come:
Wasi Hasan, MV Suez’s Pakistani captain said the crew may have to abandon the ship and hitch a ride with PNS Babar. “The boiler in the engine room is not working, so our speed has slowed down from 15 knots to 8 knots,” he said while talking to NDTV.
He also said that there is eight tons of diesel left on board, not enough to get Suez to the port of Salalah in Oman.

The Indian navy claimed that the MV Suez had rejected all contacts with its ship and on the 17th the INS Godavari was pulled back:

n a controversial move, the Indian Navy has pulled out the warship INS Godavari that was sent to escort the cargo vessel to Salalah and ward off further attacks. The Navy took the decision claiming the Suez refused contact.

But sailor Ravinder Singh who is on board the freed ship has denied receiving any communication from the Indian Navy.

He told CNN-IBN that only the Pakistan Navy's Babur is escorting the Suez at this point.

"We are moving towards Oman and are still mid sea. We will take about 34 hours to reach Salalah. INS Godavari is not with us. We haven't even seen the ship yet. It has not called us. PNS Babur has been escorting us since Wednesday night. Naval commandos are accompanying us as well. They provided us with medical assistance, food supplies and water. They will be staying with us till we reach the next port," said sailor Ravinder Singh.

The Indian and Pakistani military are not exactly on a friendly footing with each other. The political stakes are high, especially for the Indian government, which so far did not look good in this whole affair while the Pakistanis payed the ransom, got the ship and crew released and were escorting them to safety.

It is unclear yet how and when exactly the following happened but the Pakistani and Indian frigates somehow collided with, or rammed, each other:
Pakistan has claimed that the Indian Navy Ship Godavari not only hampered the humanitarian operations being carried out by Pakistan Navy Ship Babur, but also undertook dangerous manoeuvres during the course of the incident. A statement issued by the Foreign Office and carried by Pakistani media said Pakistan had lodged a protest with the Indian government on an incident that occurred while MC Suez was provided with security cover.

The exact location of the incident, however, was not mentioned in the statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Office. "It [incident] resulted in the brushing of the sides of INS Godavari and PNS Babur," the statement said.

India somewhat denied the incident:

An Indian navy official refuted Pakistani allegations that an Indian vessel had put at risk MV Suez. “Reports of aggression by INS Godavari are incorrect and based on misinformation,” he said. The Indians later lodged a counter protest and claimed that it was the Pakistani ship which hit its ship at its helicopter deck while trying to pass it (NDTV news video). The report tells of anonymous officials' claims that the Indian Navy is withholding video of the incident as it does not want to blow up next week's foreign minister meeting between Pakistan and India about nukes and Kashmir.

Does the video exist? High politics were now at stake over the simple escort of a crippled ship.

The End Of MV Suez
Meanwhile, on the 18th, the MV Suez, still at open sea some 70 miles off Oman, ran out of fuel. On order of the Egyptian owner the tug Hasic was dispatched from Oman to bring the ship into the harbor.

But early on the 19th the tug itself had technical problems and it failed to reach the MV Suez.

Without fuel, low on food and in a gathering storm the crew finally gave up on its ship:

The MV Suez's 22-member crew, including six Indians, were on Sunday transferred to a Pakistani warship when the Egyptian merchant vessel, which was recently released by Somali pirates after payment of ransom, began taking on water in the Arabian Sea. MV Suez was on its way to the Omat of Salalah when it ran out of fuel and began taking on water in stormy weather, Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying.
...
The Suez's captain had also opened the vessel's valves to scuttle it, the channel reported.
...
MV Suez Captain Syed Wasi Hasan said on phone that the weather had turned threatening due to the monsoons. "We were on the open seas for the past three days. The owner of the ship has thus far not sent any fuel," he said.

It seems like this is the end of IMO 8218720, the MV Suez. But for a ship with such an adventures soul, or maybe it was a jinxed one, it is better to go down in the Arabian Sea than to get teared apart on the beaches of Alang.

After their long ordeal and the dramatic last days the crew is now save and hopefully all will come home. The Pakistanis will transfer the MV Suez crew from their old PNS Babur to the brand new Pakistani frigate PNS Zulfiquar which will bring them to a festive welcome in Karachi. The PNS Babur is to continue its counter pirate operations. The mercenaries were sentenced on the 19th to ten to fifteen years and the money and their planes are now officially confiscated. It is expected that after yet another ransom pay gets made, this time to the Somali government, the mercenaries will get released.

What more could Hollywood ask for? Lots of pirate attacks, shabby Egyptian businessmen, a multicultural ship crew in a deep long trouble, suffering children and families, mercenaries with lots of money caught by a half illegitimate government in the middle of a civil war, more pirate attacks, two nuclear armed navies ramming their ships into each other threatening a war escalation, the sad moment when the MV Suez finally goes down in a storm, the happy ending for the crew. The wife of the crewman in the video above is pretty and smart. Her figure can certainly be used to add some love drama on top of it all.

Then again the story lacks white men in the hero roles. That, unfortunately, may be a no-no if one wants to have some box office success in 'western' societies.

Posted by b on June 19, 2011 at 03:14 PM | Permalink

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 22:48

Some more details from August 10, 2010 about the hijacking.
Owner of hijacked ship rules out negotiations with pirates -

Gamal Nawfl - Amal Abbas
Tue, 10/08/2010 - 18:15

Mohamed Sobhi, owner of an Egyptian cargo vessel hijacked last week in the Gulf of Aden, has refused to negotiate a ransom with the Somali corsairs currently holding his ship.

“The ransom money could be used to finance terrorism,” he said. “Giving in to the pirates' demands will only encourage them to hijack more ships.”

Sobhi went on to note that the ship had been insured against piracy and that the Egyptian government was in the process of handling the situation.

“It may take a little time, but ship and crew will be released soon,” he said.

According to a source in Somalia, the recent appearance by relatives of captured crew members on satellite television--in which they appealed for the crew's release--could prompt the pirates to demand a larger ransom.

The source went on to attribute the successful release of another ship owned by Sobhi, also hijacked by pirates earlier, to the fact that negotiations had been conducted privately and outside the glare of the media.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 22:51

More details from August 03, 2010 about the actual hijacking and how it happened.

Communication cut with hijacked Egyptian vessel

Khair Ragheb - Gamal Nawfl
Tue, 03/08/2010 - 14:56

Communication with the MV Suez has been completely cut off, said an official source from the Red Sea Navigation Company, owner of the vessel that was hijacked on Monday off the Somali coast. The ship had 11 Egyptian crew members on board.

The last successful incidence of communication between the ship's captain and the Red Sea company took place at 7 AM--three hours following the hijack, which occurred at 4 AM.

The same source said that cutting off communication--for periods that can extend to 72 hours--is a method commonly used by pirates during negotiations to push for their demands. Another of the company’s vessels was hijacked two years ago and its crew were later released for a ransom of US$1.5 million, the source added.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Masry Al-Youm the hijackers will likely move the vessel to a new location and then resume negotiations. According to the source, this step alone may take an entire month.

The vessel was in international waters, far away from Somali shores, when it was hijacked. This part of the sea is considered relatively safe, with several warships passing through it.

The Red Sea Navigation Company owns a fleet of eight cargo ships, of which the MV Suez was the newest. The vessel transports cement, iron, equipment, agricultural crops and fertilizers to Red Sea ports, in addition to Gulf ports, and ports in eastern Africa and on the western coast of India.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 Jun 2011 22:59

OK so the PN acted on their own to assert their role in the rescue of the ship. Still something odd in their behavior.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 23:06

raajneesh wrote:Paki MV Suez might be delivering anti-ship weaponized "gears" to somalian pirates, for use against western navies, under the guise of hijacking.

There has been reports of somalian pirates getting trained by Pakistani Navy a year before. Also, looking at her record of nuke-proliferation, this is a real possibility.

Rajneeshji piracy on the open sea is an economic activity much like hafta collected by the local pandu or a gali ka gandu (read bhaigiri). If and when these pests of the seas move onto anti-ship weaponized "gears" for use against western navies they will be wiped off the face of the earth. Today these pirates are raising the cost of commerce via the sea as ship owners using these waters have to pay a higher insurance premium against piracy. If and when they move to terrorism they will no longer be dealth with kid gloves. I must remind you that the one time these jokers tried to mess with an Indian navy warship happened to be the last mission for these particular pirates.

INS_Tabar_(F44)

...
Attack and controversial sinking
Just over a week after the MV Jav Arnav incident, on 19 November 2008, the Indian Navy reported that the INS Tabar had come under attack from pirates. The INS Tabar crew requested that the pirate vessel stop to allow a search, but the pirates responded with a threat to sink the INS Tabar if it came any closer. The pirates then opened fire on the INS Tabar before the India navy responded by returning fire. After the retaliatory strike, it was reported that a large explosion occurred on the pirate vessel, rumoured to have been caused by the pirates' weapons cache. The attack continued for about three to four more hours, and resulted in the sinking of the pirate's "mother ship". The INS Tabar also forced the abandonment of another pirate vessel, while several pirates managed to escape via a speedboat under the cover of darkness. Recalling the incident to media persons, an Indian naval spokesman, Commander Nirad Sinha, said that the "INS Tabar encountered a pirate vessel south west of Oman with two speedboats in tow. This vessel was similar in description to the 'mother vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins. INS Tabar closed in on the vessel and asked her to stop for investigation. Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of the vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar."

Reports later surfaced that the sunken "mothership" was originally a Thai fishing trawler, the FV Ekawat Nava 5, captured by the pirates which still had the Thai crew captive on-board. One sailor was reportedly still alive, another confirmed dead, and 14 sailors remained missing. The surviving member of the trawler's crew was picked up by a passing ship after six days adrift on the ocean and was taken to Yemen where he informed the owner of the trawler of the events. The survivor said all the crew were tied up under the deck, except the captain and translator.
...

archan · Post by **archan** » 20 Jun 2011 23:10

Question: so when they repeatedly "fend off" the pirates - I understand - they exchange fire with the pirate ship? if yes, they why doesn't a Navy ship drown the pirate ship and kill/capture all pirates? what are the maritime dynamics like?

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 23:12

ramana wrote:OK so the PN acted on their own to assert their role in the rescue of the ship. Still something odd in their behavior.

My guess is PN wanted to claim sole glory for the rescue of the crew of M V Suez. They wanted to bring this ship to port in Oman and when they saw an Indian navy ship was going to share glory while the M V Suez docked in Oman, they decided to scuttle the ship and bring these sailors to a TSPian port. The egyptian owners refused to pay their share of the ransom so it is likely that the captain of the boat may have scuttled it out of spite for the owners abandonment. Remember the ship and the cargo were insured so the only loosers would be the insurance companies.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2011 23:18

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story ... 42097.html

It has been learnt that Indian ships had earlier run into trouble with PNS Babur in January and November last year as well.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 23:21

archan wrote:Question: so when they repeatedly "fend off" the pirates - I understand - they exchange fire with the pirate ship? if yes, they why doesn't a Navy ship drown the pirate ship and kill/capture all pirates? what are the maritime dynamics like?

Saar the Indian ocean is a very large body of water and also an important trade route via the sea. The motherships look like regular fishing boats when seen from distance of couple of miles. These pirated have to be chased down and captured or sunk before or after the piracy is commited i.e. not during the hijack as the pirates are boarding the merchant ship. The accidental loss of innocent life and property would make the whole operation untenable to any navy operating in those waters. The problem arises in distinguishing a perfectly legit fishing vessel from a pirate mothership and then being able to chase her down in international waters. I think in some cases the pirates strike at a target of opportunity but in most cases they are getting access to ships cargo and route information from tainted employees of shipping companies. They use this info to target such ships when the naval big dogs are not watching or busy elsewhere.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2011 23:32

If B Raman is correct,
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers ... r4432.html
"Somali Pirates say they are at War with India"

then surely the whole topic merits a thread of its own.

His latest:
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpap ... r4554.html

We are still groping in the dark in matters relating to action against the Somali pirates, who are more and more active despite all the preventive patrolling, more and more venturesome coming closer and closer to our waters and more and more difficult to handle with neither prevention nor cure in sight in the near and medium-term future.

Not to be mixed up with the TSP stuff, I think.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 20 Jun 2011 23:33

archan wrote:Question: so when they repeatedly "fend off" the pirates - I understand - they exchange fire with the pirate ship? if yes, they why doesn't a Navy ship drown the pirate ship and kill/capture all pirates? what are the maritime dynamics like?

Just to add. If and when we sink a pirate ship, we make merchant ships flying under our flag a bigger target in those waters and also jeopardize the lives of our sailors serving on other merchant vessels if and when they are hijacked.

This article (posted in full) from May 27 of this year in TOI will better explain the problems in adoption of an aggressive stance by the Indian navy.

India not to arrest any more pirates

Josy Joseph May 27, 2011, 02.07am IST
NEW DELHI: Somali pirates were brought by the dozen to Mumbai as trophies of India's aggressive fight against piracy in recent times. But no more, officials told TOI.

The government has effected a policy shift in its anti-piracy operations, asking Navy not to arrest any more pirates, and also not to bring them to India's mainland. The government fears that its aggressive operations, especially the arrest of pirates and their incarceration in Mumbai, may have backfired. Somali pirates are retaliating against India's proactive stand by targeting Indian sailors, the security establishment believes. Presently, 43 Indian sailors are in the custody of pirates.

The situation is worrying for India, given the fact that over 10% of total seafarers working for shipping companies around the world are Indians. "We believe they are retaliating. Recently, while rest of their colleagues was released, seven Indians on a particular ship were taken to Somalia. We are still waiting to hear from them," a senior official said.

Navy sources said this new policy shift would stay at least till all Indians in pirates' custody were released. Confirming that the "policy nudge" was already in place, another source said that during the last operation off the southern coast three weeks ago, the Navy did not arrest pirates.

Navy's present strategy is to disarm pirates of "piracy triggers", items such as rope, ladder, arms and ammunition that are used in piracy, and force them out of Indian waters. "Hold, disarm and leave," an officer described the strategy.

The policy shift comes at a time when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called on the UN to take the lead in developing a "comprehensive and effective response" to piracy. Piracy also figures on top of the PM's agenda during his ongoing Africa visit.

A senior official in another agency said the Indian approach towards piracy itself was being recast and not just because of pirates targeting Indian sailors. He said the pirates in Mumbai were of "no value at all" to security agencies. "They are neither terrorists nor are they of any other value to us. So we have booked them under Arms Act and violations of other Indian laws. We will have to take care of them now," he said.

rajithn · Post by **rajithn** » 21 Jun 2011 00:07

To hell with the talks. The IN should "release" (read: leak) the videos/photographic evidence of babur's aggressive moves to international media.
The IN could have sunk the Suez and the Babur and explained it off as accident with explosive ordinance on board one of the ships leading to a sympathetic explosion in the other. No trace of survivors or wreckage. Pity we have a disciplined force that doesnt "rambo" it out when the situation warrants it.
The indian crew will be taken to Porkiland and they WILL say what Porkiland wants them to say in front of an international media. The Porkis will walk out of this one smelling like roses...our own WKKs will make matters worse for us..and we will be that much close to being re-hypenated with this failure called Porkistan.
"Oh, who will rid us of this troublesome neighbor?!!"

raajneesh · Post by **raajneesh** » 21 Jun 2011 00:08

BijuShet wrote:My guess is PN wanted to claim sole glory for the rescue of the crew of M V Suez. They wanted to bring this ship to port in Oman and when they saw an Indian navy ship was going to share glory while the M V Suez docked in Oman, they decided to scuttle the ship and bring these sailors to a TSPian port.

Well, that makes sense.

The whole MV Suez episode is now looking like an chaddi-bachao(bring back lost H&D) operation, to the land of pure. Mehran attack has taken away their lungi, in broad daylight. Now the chaddi is open in public. It must be covered with something, before someone takes it out too or angry aam-abduls start tearing it apart.

rajithn · Post by **rajithn** » 21 Jun 2011 00:12

raajneesh wrote:
BijuShet wrote:My guess is PN wanted to claim sole glory for the rescue of the crew of M V Suez. They wanted to bring this ship to port in Oman and when they saw an Indian navy ship was going to share glory while the M V Suez docked in Oman, they decided to scuttle the ship and bring these sailors to a TSPian port.
Well, that makes sense.

The whole MV Suez episode is now looking like an chaddi-bachao(bring back lost H&D) operation, to the land of pure. Mehran attack has taken away their lungi in broad daylight. Now the chaddi is open in public. It must be covered with something, before someone takes it out too or angry aam-abduls start tearing it apart.

I dont think this incident needs to be seen in relation to the mehran incident. The pakis will always poke us, daring us to retailiate. Mehran or no Mehran, this would have been the case. The Pakis have a stronger sense of inferiority and a need to prove themselves (to themselves only) time and again that they are stronger than the Indians. They are masters of brinkmanship and the are perfecting the art with the Khans as well.
Pity that there is no Government that can actually call their bluff!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 Jun 2011 00:13

Folks,
We have a thread for Indian Navy and International Anti-Piracy ops

Please use that thread to discuss non-TSP related aspects of this incident.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 21 Jun 2011 00:22

rajithn wrote:...Pity that there is no Government that can actually call their bluff!

Saar what do you think would have happened if we would have called their bluff? Are you suggesting that our navy begin a shooting war with TSP.

If INS Godavari would have sunk PNS Babar then we would have gotten tagged as a rouge navy. We did the right thing by collecting the evidence of the TSPN usual behavior to be shared with the rest of the world. It is best we not turn into the the ones who hate us the most. Our navy will keep its powder dry till the time comes to use it. Until then we do not need to counter bravado with more bravado. This behaviour by TSPN is similar to the daily one at the Wagah gate closing ceremony. All TSPians are TFTA martial soldiers till the first bullet is fired after which it quickly transforms into down hill skiiing all the way to UN gen assembly.

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 21 Jun 2011 02:49

I am more or less convinced that the increasing piracy close to the Indian coast, is a another facet of TSP's war of thousand cuts.
The pirates have amazing success in tracking and boarding vehicles and I will not be surprised if PNS assets assist them. I think I read it somewhere that insurance rates for ships near India are sky-rocketing.

From the point of causing economic damage, there is nothing better. The actors involved are all non-state. There is very little cost to the TSP and an asymmetrical cost to the Indian economy. Because this involves trans-national terrorism on the high seas, there is little which can be done to expose them. The hits will have to come under the belt.

Perhaps the Onions were being used to help Somali pirates...

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 21 Jun 2011 03:02

Pakistan detains girl with suicide vest

PAKISTANI police say they have detained a nine-year-old school girl allegedly strapped with a bomb and told to blow up a police checkpoint in the country's troubled northwest.

The girl appeared on national television wearing her blue and white school uniform.

"They kept me in a house and they told me to push the button when I reach near policemen," she told reporters during a press conference.