Somali Islamists Threaten to Take on Pirates Holding Jordanian Ship

Islamist militants have threatened to attack the pirates holding a Jordanian vessel hijacked off the Somali coast last Saturday if the abductors continued to ignore appeals to release the ship and its crew members, the local elders involved in the mediation efforts told APA on Tuesday.

“The elders are engaged in attempts to have the ship released after we got reports that it docked somewhere about 60 km from Harar Dhere,” Mukhat Khalif, a local elder in Harar Dhere told APA. He added; “we would try to mediate between both the pirates and the Islamists because the Islamists have vowed to fight against the pirates if they don’t release the ship unconditionally.”

On Monday, after heavily armed Islamist fighters reached Harar-Dhere, about 500km north of Mogadishu, in central Somalia, one of the main towns where the pirates have their power base, and they threatened to fight against the pirates, accusing them of preventing the badly needed consignment in the ship from reaching the vulnerable Somalis.

“We know that you support the pirates because they are hiding in your town. We are however warning you to fight against this group and eradicate these pirates because they increase the problems in the country. We have also come here to remove the road blocks,” one of the Alshabab commanders told the crowds that turned out in the town center when the fighters arrived.

Source African Press Agency

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