Saturday, April 11, 2009

Upping the Ante: Somali Pirates Now Hijack U.S. Tugboat

Barack Obama is still unavailable for comment. Must be busy eating very expensive pizza.
The head of a Kenyan seafarers' program said Saturday that Somali pirates had hijacked an American-owned tugboat with 16 crew in the Gulf of Aden.

Nairobi-based Italian Ambassador Pierandrea Magistrati said he only could confirm that "there is a boat that has been hijacked, I believe by Somali pirates."

The hijacking took place as the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was still being held hostage on a lifeboat being watched by two U.S. warships.

The head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, Andrew Mwangura, said maritime industry sources had informed his organization that the Italian-flagged U.S. tugboat was towing two barges when it was attacked. He said it was unclear if the attack took place off the coast of Somalia or further north near Yemen. He said did not know what was on the barges.

Mwangura said the attack was launched around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday.
Mrs. Smart Diplomacy must find this latest hijacking downright hysterical.



Obama apparently failed to even mention the Somali pirates during how weekly radio address.

Nor did he mention the American journalists being held hostage in North Korea and Iran.

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