From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Sep 12 2008 - 15:49:41 EDT
US offers pirates $7m bribe for Iran ship entry
Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:25:56 GMT
The US has offered USD 7m to the pirates, who hijacked an Iranian ship
in the Gulf of Aden, to receive entry permission and search the vessel.
The hijackers have yet to respond to the seven-million-dollar offer, but
a source close to the pirates told Press TV that the pirates are likely
to accept the bribe and allow American onboard the vessel.
The US the naval fleet off the Somali coast alleges that The Iran
Diyanat was carrying 'uranium and chemical weapons'.
Iran's shipping company, however, has declared that the Iranian bulk
carrier hired by a German company had no weapons or uranium on board and
was carrying 42,500 tons of minerals and industrial products.
Ibrahim Mohammad-Nabi, Deputy CEO of Iran's shipping company also
confirmed that no Russian or Syrian nationals were aboard the vessel,
rejecting claims made by another Puntland minister that an international
crew operates the ship.
Pirates have stepped up attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden,
as Somalia's current transitional government has failed to shackle the
pirates in the key commercial shipping lane.
RB/MMN
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