Somalia

ROUNDUP: German navy arrest nine in Somalia pirate attack

German navy arrest nine in Somalia pirate attack Berlin  - The German navy detained nine people Tuesday following a dramatic action to head off a pirate attack on a German merchant vessel off the coast of Somalia.

A tricky deliberation process has started in Germany, which has to decide how to legally proceed with the pirates.

This is the first time in the history of modern Germany's navy that anyone has been apprehended at sea.

Yemen coastguard saves Korean cargo ship from Somali pirate attack

Sana'a, Yemen  - The Yemeni coastguard thwarted a pirate attack on a South Korean cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing one pirate on Monday, Yemen's Interior Ministry reported.

A coastguard unit in the southern Yemeni port of Aden answered a distress call from the Korean ship that came under attack about 40 miles off Aden, the ministry said in a statement.

Pirates were closing in on the ship pointing rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers in an attempt to force it to stop as a dispatched coastguard gunboat reached the site, the ministry said.

"Coast guards exchanged fire with the Somali pirates and fatally shot one of them," it said, adding that the pirates fled the area and the ship was able to continue its journey.

Somali president plans to introduce sharia law

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh AhmedNairobi/Mogaishu  - Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed spoke in favour of using Islamic sharia law as the basis by which he will govern the Horn of Africa nation, local media reported Sunday.

The moderate Islamist leader who was elected president a month ago just hours during a parliamentary session held in neighbouring Djibouti said he was hoping that the introduction of shariah law would defuse the country's conflict with tribal militias.

UN official: Somalis stuck between rock and hard place

Somalis stuck between rock and hard place Geneva  - The United Nations Refugee Agency said Friday that in recent weeks some 40,000 displaced Somalis have returned to the war ravaged capital Mogadishu as the areas elsewhere in the country where they sought refuge had become too violent and were being hit by drought.

"Somalis are between a rock and a hard place," said William Spindler, a spokesman for UNHCR.

The UN warned that it was "not encouraging returns to Mogadishu at this juncture, as the security situation is volatile and the conditions are certainly not conducive."

Italian nuns abducted near Somalia border are freed

Rome  - Two Italian nuns kidnapped in Kenya near the country's border with Somalia more than three months ago have been freed, Italian officials said Thursday.

Caterina Giraudo, 67, and Maria Teresa Olivero, 61, are in a "good condition" at the residence of Italy's ambassador in Nairobi, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

The two nuns were abducted by armed men on November 9, 2008 near Elwak in the northern Kenya district of Mandera. The hostages, who had lived in Kenya for years, were believed to have been taken across the border into Somalia.

The neighbouring region of southern Somalia has been controlled by Islamist fighters allied to local militia.

Russian Navy hands over 10 Somali suspected pirates to Yemen

Russian Navy hands over 10 Somali suspected pirates to Yemen Sana'a, Yemen  - A Russian Navy ship on Wednesday handed over to Yemeni authorities 10 Somali suspected pirates it had captured off a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean, security sources said.

Yemeni coast guard officers received the suspects at the south-eastern port of Mukalla, the sources said.

A Russian nuclear-powered warship captured the 10 pirates in two speed boats and a mother ship as they tried to hijack an Iranian fishing trawler south east of the Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean on February 12, according to the Russian Navy.

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