Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Thwarted 'piracy' on cruise ship was terrorist attack - missiles hit ship - Assassination attempt on Somalia' s president
Thwarted 'piracy' on cruise ship was terrorist attack - missiles hit ship - Assassination attempt on Somalia' s president
Somalia still terror hub
November 6, 2005
MIM: It took the discovery of a missile embedded in the US ship which was attacked off the coast of Somalia predominently Muslim nation,( which was a haven to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the 1990's )for the crew and American officials to cotton on to the fact that the thwarted 'piracy' attempt was a terrorist attack. A day later the president of Somalia narrowly avoided assassination.
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,17162619,00.html
Missile 'embedded in cruise ship'
07nov05
AN unexploded missile is embedded in an accommodation unit after a possible terrorist attack off the east African coast, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said today.
The passengers on the US-owned Seabourn Spirit were woken by machinegun fire and a rocket-propelled grenade crashing into the vessel at dawn on Saturday about 160km off the coast of the lawless nation of Somalia.
The luxury cruise ship is about to dock in the Seychelles, but Mr Downer said that could be delayed while officials disarm the unexploded ordnance.
"We're not sure whether in the early stages the ship will be able to tie up at the wharf there because of concern about an unexploded rocket that is embedded in some of the passenger accommodation of the ship," Mr Downer told the Nine Network.
"American officials are going to board it initially to deal with that problem, and once that problem's dealt with then our consular officer will be able to go on board as well."
The attack was believed to have been carried out by pirates, but Mr Downer said it may have been a terrorist act.
"The whole thing is an extraordinary story, that it would be attacked by, we're not quite sure who at this stage, but it's possible the people who attacked the ship were terrorists," he said.
Mr Downer said it was not known exactly how many Australians were on board, with 13 named on the ship's passenger list and another six who were thought to have joined the cruise.
The ship, with more than 300 people on board, was on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa where it was due to pick up more passengers, including Australians.
Those Australians will now be met by a consular official from Australia's embassy in Nairobi.
The passengers awoke about 5.30am on Saturday to the sound of gunfire as two armed vessels approached the Seabourn Spirit.
Sydney couple Gayle and Bob Meagher, who are aboard the ship, described the moment they realised they were in the firing line. Mr Meagher said he could see the pirates shooting at the ship.
"It was a frightening experience to see the flash of a rocket launcher and you just wonder what's about to happen to you in the next couple of seconds," he told the Seven Network.
Ms Meagher said the captain stayed calm, warning passengers: "We have people shooting at us, we are going to try to outrun them."
"(It was) a little bit more exciting than we planned for," she said.
"The sounds were very sharp like doors banging."
The 7.5-metre inflatable boats approached the vessel and fired as their occupants attempted to get on board the liner.
Seabourn Spirit was not boarded, managing to outrun the attackers and change its course.
One member of the crew was slightly injured before the attackers were repulsed, a London-based Seabourn Cruises spokesman said. The crew member was reportedly hit by flying debris.
The ship has 161 crew members and 151 passengers.
The company said the ship, registered in the Bahamas, sustained minor damage and was safe to sail.
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article325249.ece
Terror temperature rises in Somalia as PM survives attack
By Leonard Doyle, Foreign Editor
Published: 07 November 2005
A failed assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of Somalia and an attempt to hijack a luxury American cruise ship off the coast has reinforced fears that the country is spiralling out of control as a centre of al-Qa'ida terrorism.
The unsuccessful attack by pirates on Saturday was the first on a luxury cruise liner in the area.
Three people were killed in the attack on the Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, as he visited the chaotic capital Mogadishu. He was unharmed in the explosion set off near his convoy, witnesses said. Mr Gedi was visiting from Jowhar, where a transitional government is based.
Political collapse in this failed state has created a power vacuum that is posing a danger to Somalis and the outside world. Since 2003, Somalia has witnessed the rise of a new, ruthless, independent jihadi network with links to al-Qai'da.
The former Italian colony has been without a functioning national government for 14 years and a transitional parliament, sworn in last year, has failed to end the anarchy. In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of Mogadishu, al-Qa'ida operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism agents are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest of intimidation, abduction and assassination.
On Saturday Somali pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades launched an unsuccessful attack on Seaborn Spirit as it rounded the Horn of Africa with 22 British tourists aboard.
The ship came under attack at 5.30am as the pirates approached in at least two speedboats shooting at the ship with grenade launchers and machine guns. They were repelled by the ships crew who set off electronic countermeasures, described as "a loud bang" by one of the passengers.
One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters about 100 miles (160km) off the Somali coast. "My daughter saw the pirates out our window," passenger Edith Laird from Seattle in the US told the BBC News by e-mail from the ship.
"There were at least three RPGs that hit the ship, one in a stateroom four doors down from our cabin," she said. Seabourn Spirit was carrying 302 passengers and crew, most of them Americans as well as some Britons and Australians. Yesterday there were calls for a naval task force to try to stop attacks in Somali waters - among the most dangerous in the world.
But it is unlikely that a naval task force would be able to quell the lawlessness which has wracked the country for decades. Beginning in 1993, a two-year US commanded UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions, but when the US withdrew in humiliation in Operation United Shield by 3 March, 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order had still not been restored.
During the 1990s, extremism in Somalia was centered on the al-Ittihaad al-Islaami, a band of Wahhabi militants bent on establishing an Islamic emirate in the country. Al-Qa'ida also became established and attacked US and UN peacekeepers using the country as a transit zone for terrorism in neighbouring Kenya.
Leading members of al-Qa'ida's East African network still hide in Somalia according to the International Crisis Group.
In Mogadishu yesterday Mr Gedi was making his second visit to Mogadishu since his appointment at the helm of the transitional government. Officials said he was travelling from the airport into the centre of the city when his convoy was attacked by gunmen, who hurled grenades and detonated a landmine. The blast is reported to have hit one of the vehicles in the convoy, and the prime minister's vehicle was also damaged.
At least one of Mr Gedi's bodyguards was reported to be among the dead.
A failed assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of Somalia and an attempt to hijack a luxury American cruise ship off the coast has reinforced fears that the country is spiralling out of control as a centre of al-Qa'ida terrorism.
The unsuccessful attack by pirates on Saturday was the first on a luxury cruise liner in the area.
Three people were killed in the attack on the Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, as he visited the chaotic capital Mogadishu. He was unharmed in the explosion set off near his convoy, witnesses said. Mr Gedi was visiting from Jowhar, where a transitional government is based.
Political collapse in this failed state has created a power vacuum that is posing a danger to Somalis and the outside world. Since 2003, Somalia has witnessed the rise of a new, ruthless, independent jihadi network with links to al-Qai'da.
The former Italian colony has been without a functioning national government for 14 years and a transitional parliament, sworn in last year, has failed to end the anarchy. In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of Mogadishu, al-Qa'ida operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism agents are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest of intimidation, abduction and assassination.
On Saturday Somali pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades launched an unsuccessful attack on Seaborn Spirit as it rounded the Horn of Africa with 22 British tourists aboard.
The ship came under attack at 5.30am as the pirates approached in at least two speedboats shooting at the ship with grenade launchers and machine guns. They were repelled by the ships crew who set off electronic countermeasures, described as "a loud bang" by one of the passengers.
One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters about 100 miles (160km) off the Somali coast. "My daughter saw the pirates out our window," passenger Edith Laird from Seattle in the US told the BBC News .
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