Two NATO warships — one Canadian, the other British — scrambled helicopters in defense, Davies said. No damage was reported to the cargo ship and the pirates escaped.

In a separate pre-dawn attack, pirates fired rockets at the Maltese-flagged MV Atlantica about 30 miles (50 kilometers) off Yemen’s coast in the Gulf of Aden, said Lt.-Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, a spokesman for the NATO alliance.

Two boats with about six pirates each attacked the ship and one skiff attempted to board it. The ship took evasive maneuvers and escaped without damage or injury to crew, Fernandes said from a warship in the area.

NATO forces have helped fend off several attacks in recent days, but have released the culprits because they had no jurisdiction to arrest them. In some cases, neither the pirates nor their targets were nationals of NATO countries.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen met Monday and said they will seek authority for NATO to arrest pirates.

The U.N. announced Monday that pirates had released one ship, the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse. The Togo-flagged ship was captured April 14 with 19 crew as it headed to India to pick up more than 7,000 tons of U.N. food destined for hungry Somalis.

But the release was not just a humanitarian gesture.

Pirates let the Sea Horse go after two Dubai-based Somali businessmen intervened and paid off the pirates, said Somali clan elder Abdisalan Khalif Ahmed. The pair had been contracted by the World Food Program to pick up and deliver the food, he told The Associated Press from Harardhere, the Somali port where the freighter had been hauled to by pirates.

The businessmen “pledged to cover the expenses of the pirates who have been out to sea for ten days,” Ahmed said.

A man in Harardhere who identified himself as Muhidin Abdulle Nur and claimed to be part of the gang that seized the freighter said the businessmen had paid “a reward” of $100,000 on Sunday.

The U.N. food agency denied any knowledge of a ransom being paid, but ships are usually freed only after their owners pay multimillion-dollar ransoms, sometimes dropped in cash from helicopters directly onto ship decks.

Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House, said since the Sea Horse had no cargo yet, it was probably less valuable anyway.

The U.N. food agency is feeding 3.5 million Somalis this year, about half the country’s people. Most food is delivered by sea because flights are too expensive and roads are plagued by bandits.

Analysts blame Somalia’s nearly 20 years of lawlessness for fueling piracy’s rise.

Years ago, foreign trawlers began taking advantage of Somalia’s civil war to fish its waters illegally and dump toxic waste there. Vigilante Somali fishermen tried to defend their shores, and later morphed into full-blown pirates.

Attacks have risen markedly in recent weeks, and brigands hold at least 17 other ships and around 300 crew.

Meanwhile, Somalia called for international help to rebuild its military to combat piracy and train security forces to track down pirates.

“We need to re-establish our naval forces so we can fight against pirates in the Somali territorial waters but also on land,” Idd Beddel Mohamed, Somalia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, told The Associated Press in New York.

“Until the Somali government has military capability to address the threat of piracy on the ground, the issue of piracy will continue,” he said.

Mohamed said the Somali government has already raised the need to help re-establish the country’s security forces with the United States and other Western governments.

In another sign of deteriorating security in Somalia, two foreign aid workers — one Belgian and one Dutch — employed by Doctors Without Borders were taken hostage Sunday by 25 masked gunmen.

There was no indication the abductions were related to the surge in piracy. The kidnapping of aid workers has long been a common problem in lawless Somalia.

Meanwhile, the European Dredging Association urged European Union governments to step up anti-piracy operations, warning that many more ships could fall prey to pirates.

Pirates captured the Belgian-flagged dredger Pompei on Saturday in the Indian Ocean north of the Seychelles islands. Belgian officials said Monday they have not been able to contact the ship’s 10-man crew or their captors.

“Diplomatic relations with Somalia mean nothing because there is no state,” said Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht. “You can’t solve this via normal diplomatic channels.”

Associated Press writers Katharine Houreld and Malkhadir M. Muhumed in Nairobi, Kenya; Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, Somalia; Constant Brand in Brussels; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The Associated Press:

The clash broke out Wednesday in the Bakool region, after government troops attacked a base belonging to the al-Shabab militant group in the Rabdhure district.

Heavy gunfire was exchanged and at least one vehicle was burned. Another vehicle was reported to have been captured by the militants.

Al-Shabab controls much of southern and central Somalia after a two-year insurgency, and has moved to impose its own strict form of Islamic law in areas under its control.

Last week, Somalia’s cabinet voted to make Sharia the basis of Somalia’s legal system, in an effort to appease the insurgents.

At Least 14 Killed in Somalia Clash

The recording appeared Thursday on Web sites used by al-Qaida-linked militant groups.

The speaker says Somalis should fight and dethrone President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who the recording claims is “paid by the enemies” of al-Qaida’s cause.

The 11.5-minute message was entitled “Fight On, Champions of Somalia” and included a picture of bin Laden with the audio.

President Sheikh Sharif is a moderate Islamist elected by lawmakers in January, after a peace deal between the previous government and Islamist opposition groups.

The new government plans to make Islamic law the basis of Somalia’s legal system, in an effort to appease hardline Islamists still fighting the government.

One Somali politician, Mohamed Amin Osman, told VOA that bin Laden’s alleged call to topple the president may anger many Somalis, who are tired of war.

Militant groups like al-Shabab control most of southern and central Somalia, after more than two years of fighting in the Horn of Africa country.

Al-Shabab has also rejected the new president, and continues to fight government forces and African Union peacekeepers.

The government controls only portions of the capital, Mogadishu.

Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991, when a coup toppled President Mohamed Siad Barre.

New Bin Laden Tape Calls for Somali President’s Ouster

Ahmed has promised to build on his record of bringing security when his Islamist forces ruled much of the country, which has been racked by war for 18 years.

African Union peacekeepers said the attack was intended to provoke return fire.

“We just ignored them,” Major Barigye Ba-Hoku, spokesman for the AU’s small AMISOM mission in the city, told Reuters.

“They are provocative and expect us to respond but we are not ready to. They want an excuse to accuse AMISOM of attacking civilians. We never do that.”

A government security officer said several mortars were fired at the hilltop Villa Somalia palace, but no one was hurt.

Abdullahi Qadar, an official working for the new president, said Ahmed had ordered government forces and the AU peacekeepers not to return fire to avoid civilian casualties.

Ahmed, a moderate, headed a sharia courts group that brought some stability to Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia in 2006, before Washington’s main regional ally Ethiopia invaded to oust them. Ethiopia’s military withdrew last month, clearing the way for Ahmed’s election in Djibouti a week ago.

Ahmed was then feted at a February 1-4 African Union summit hosted this week by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi — whose army drove his Islamists from power just two years ago.

He said he and Meles had agreed to work together for a better Horn of Africa and for an end to conflict in the region.

The hardline al Shabaab group, which is on Washington’s list of foreign terrorist groups, said before the vote it would start a new campaign of hit-and-run attacks on the government — whoever came to power.

Rebels target new Somali president with mortars | International | Reuters

Ethiopia’s prime minister said he could not predict what would happen when his troops leave Somalia completely, but he expected the extremist Islamic group, al-Shabab, and others to try to seize control.

Al-Shabab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, says it wants to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.

“It would be strange if the Shabab and others did not try to capitalize on the fact that a significant proportion of the peacekeeping operation in Somalia was leaving and to try to fill in whatever vacuum they feel there is,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told journalists in Addis Ababa.

“But at the moment, what will happen next is an open question,” Meles said.

However, Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein told journalists he was confident Mogadishu is safe. And by sunset Thursday, Mogadishu residents reported a day without violence. It was unclear whether this was a lull in this week’s fighting or an indication of longer-term tranquility for the capital’s residents.

The African Union said over the weekend that the government and its Islamic allies have about 10,000 troops, but they are poorly equipped and require logistical support.

The departure of the Ethiopians has raised fears of a power vacuum at a time when Somalia is also facing rampant piracy off its coast. The country has not had a functioning government since 1991 and few expect that a Somali force can establish order even with the help of a relatively moderate faction of Islamists who had agreed to share power in October.

Al-Shabab has said that it now will focus its attacks on the about 2,400 African Union peacekeepers based in Mogadishu.

Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government called in the Ethiopian troops in December 2006 to oust an umbrella Islamic group — which included the al-Shabab extremists — that had controlled southern Somalia and the capital for six months.

The Ethiopian army, one of Africa’s largest, was viewed by many Somalis as abusive and heavy-handed.

Sahro Sheik Yusuf, a mother of four who fled her house in southern Mogadishu two years ago because the Ethiopians had a base nearby, said Thursday was a special day for her.

“I feel as if I’m liberated today. I’m ecstatic,” said Yusuf, adding she had lived in a camp outside Mogadishu without running water and with waste all around her. “I’m happy to return to my home.”

But few expect the Somali government now can ensure security. It controls only pockets of the capital, Mogadishu, and Baidoa, where the parliament sits — and has tried to rule without a president for weeks.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in fighting in the past year, particularly in the capital, and hundreds of thousands have fled the violence.

Since Tuesday’s handover, Islamic insurgents have continued attacking government installations. At least 24 civilians were killed and more than 50 wounded in violence Wednesday, medical staff reported.

“The Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from the capital,” Hussein told journalists at the airport before leaving the country. “The city is now safe. I urge government troops and other groups to work together toward keeping peace in the city.”

Hussein told journalists he will be a candidate when the parliament convenes to elect a new president.

Abdullahi Yusuf resigned from the presidency last month, saying he had lost control of the country to Islamic insurgents. Parliament’s speaker has been acting president until a new one is elected before the end of January.

The United States has circulated a draft resolution calling for a U.N. peacekeeping force to be deployed in Somalia to replace the small African Union force.

But in a rare interview Thursday, hardline opposition leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys said Somalia does not need more peacekeepers.

“They should stop the military interference in Somalia — especially the U.S,” said Aweys, the Eritrea-based leader of a faction of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. A U.N. Security Council resolution has designated Aweys a terrorist, something he has denied.

Aweys, while not calling for any attacks on the AU troops, said they should leave Somalia.

The Associated Press: Last Ethiopian troops leave Somalia’s capital

Hundreds of residents have flocked to see the now-empty Ethiopian bases north of the city, some of them dancing and singing to celebrate the departure of the deeply unpopular Ethiopian forces.

At a handover ceremony at the presidential palace Tuesday, Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein thanked the Ethiopian troops for their sacrifices.

Some Somali leaders say the pullout could create a security vacuum and endanger the government. But the U.N. envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, expressed hope that the withdrawal might convince some Islamist insurgents to stop fighting.

A moderate Islamist movement allied with the government says its forces have moved in to take control of the former Ethiopian bases.

Ethiopia has said it plans to bring home all its troops by the end of the week. The nation sent thousands of troops into Somalia in late 2006 to help the government defeat an Islamist movement that had seized control of the capital and other cities.

There were reports of continued fighting in Mogadishu Tuesday, and witnesses reported at least 11 dead in clashes on Monday between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces.

On Monday, the United States circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia to help fill the void left by Ethiopia’s departure.

The draft would renew the mandate of African Union peacekeepers currently in Somalia, but eventually replace them with a stronger international force. The draft calls for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to develop a mandate for the new force by April 15, and for a council decision by June 1.

Battles between the government troops and the Islamist insurgents have killed thousands of Somalis and displaced more than a million others over the past two years.
The Islamists have seized control of many towns in recent weeks but appear split over the level of Islamic law that should be enforced. The hardline Al-Shabab group favors a strict form of Sharia that many Somalis oppose.

VOA News – Ethiopia Pulling Troops from Mogadishu

The French naval vessel “Jean de Vienne” was on patrol off the Somali coast as part of a European Union anti-piracy force when it came to the rescue of a Croatian cargo vessel and a Panamanian ship crossing the Gulf of Aden.

The 19 Somali pirates, armed and equipped with equipment to board the vessels, were captured and have been handed over to Somali authorities, the statement said.

The incident came three days after another French vessel captured eight Somali pirates who attacked a Panamanian registered vessel.

Piracy off Somalia, one of the world’s busiest shipping areas, has soared over the past year, earning the pirates millions of dollars of ransom payments and pushing up maritime insurance rates.

The European Union set up an anti-piracy naval task force under British command last month involving warships and aircraft from several nations in the first such naval operation of its kind.

French warship captures 19 Somali pirates | Reuters

Many fear the Ethiopian pullout — and last month’s resignation of Somalia’s president — will cause Islamic militant groups to fight among themselves for power, bringing even more chaos to this beleaguered Horn of African nation.

”We have to show commitment to do our part in security, we want to help people feel secure,” Abdirahim Issa Adow, a spokesman for one wing of the insurgency, told The Associated Press after deploying troops to three of Mogadishu’s 14 police stations.

His Union of Islamic Courts is not allied to the most powerful insurgent group, al-Shabab, which has taken over most of Somalia.

The United States accuses al-Shabab of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who blew up the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Many of the insurgency’s senior figures are Islamic radicals; some are on the State Department’s list of wanted terrorists.

Ethiopia has been propping up Somalia’s weak government for two years, but vowed to leave by the end of 2008. Officials have since declined to give an exact date amid concerns of a power vacuum, so the thousands of Ethiopian troops are being pulled out in stages.

The government controls only Baidoa, the seat of Parliament, and pockets of the capital, Mogadishu. There is no effective military or police force; some police bases are occupied by government forces and others are vacant. The three taken over Saturday were vacated months ago.

Also Saturday, witnesses about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of Mogadishu said Islamic groups were fighting each other, killing at least six people.

The Somalia government, with the tacit approval of the United States, called in the Ethiopians in 2006 to support the U.N.-backed government and rout Islamic militants who had taken over most of the country.

Initially, the Ethiopians’ superior firepower worked — the Islamists were driven from power. But they quickly regrouped and launched an insurgency that continues today.

Abdullahi Yusuf resigned as president in December, saying he had lost control of the country to Islamic insurgents.

Many Somalis have seen the Ethiopians as occupiers, and the insurgents have used their presence as a rallying cry to gain recruits — even as the militants’ strict form of Islam terrified people into submission.

For two decades, Somalia has been beset by anarchy, violence and an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing from mortar shells, machine-gun crossfire and grenades.

A local human rights group says more than 15,000 people have been killed in Somalia in the past two years. The figure is impossible to independently confirm. The group, Elman Human Rights, says it relied on hospital and witness accounts.

The anarchy has also allowed Somali pirates to flourish, attacking 111 ships around the Gulf of Aden in 2008, hijacking 42 of them and earning tens of millions in ransom. Fifteen ships with more than 260 crew are still in the hands of pirates, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Somali Insurgents Seize Police Stations – NYTimes.com

A supply ship and two destroyers departed from Sanya, on the island province of Hainan, carrying a total of about 800 crew members, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

“In addition to missiles, artillery and satellite communications, special troops who are trained for the tasks will also be on board the warships,” said Xiao Xinnian, deputy chief of China’s naval forces, in a news broadcast on CCTV, the state network.

The task force commander, Rear Adm. Du Jingcheng, said the primary mission of the destroyers, which are carrying helicopters, would be to protect Chinese merchant ships, especially tankers with crude oil, that pass through the gulf, which separates the coasts of Somalia and Yemen. About 60 percent of China’s imported oil comes from the Middle East, and most of that passes through the gulf, along with huge shipments of raw materials from Africa.

Stratfor, a private intelligence agency based in the United States, said in a report that a Chinese antipiracy patrol would afford its navy “some very real opportunities for on-the-job training, covering everything from logistics far from home and combat against seaborne opponents to communications and joint operations with other, more experienced navies.”

The analysis also said the Chinese would probably monitor the way NATO warships, especially those of the United States, “communicate with each other and with their ship-borne helicopters.” The navy will acquire new skills, it said, “under the banner of internationalism.”

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the United States Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said the coalition would welcome the Chinese ships.

The Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said Friday that 110 ships have been attacked in the gulf this year, and 42 have been hijacked. Fourteen ships are still being held for ransom.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said that 1,265 Chinese commercial vessels passed through the gulf so far this year and that seven were attacked. A Chinese fishing trawler and 18 crew members are still being held by pirates, he said.

A European Union flotilla has begun patrolling the gulf in recent days, joining naval ships from India, the United States, Iran and Russia. On Thursday, a helicopter from a German frigate drove off a pirate boat that was attacking an Egyptian cargo ship with a load of wheat.

Chinese Warships Sail to Pirate-Infested Waters – NYTimes.com

In the first 11 months, 1,265 Chinese commercial ships passed through Somali waters, or about three to four a day, a fifth of which were assaulted by pirates, according to Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the ministry.

“Piracy has become a serious threat to shipping, trade and safety on the seas,” Liu told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing. “That’s why we decided to send naval ships to crack down on piracy.”

Liu declined to provide further details, saying preparations are under way and information will be released at a later date.

The United Nations Security Council earlier this week voted 15-0 to adopt a U.S.-drafted text that permits all nations and regional organizations — with the consent of Somalia’s provisional government — to “take all necessary measures that are appropriate” to deter piracy.

Bloomberg.com: Asia