Villagers flee as Indonesia volcano erupts again

Villagers flee as Indonesia volcano erupts again

Villagers flee as Indonesia volcano erupts again

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 11:56 PM PDT

SURBAKTI, Sept 3 — An Indonesian volcano that lay dormant for 400 years erupted yet again today, shooting a mushroom-shaped plume of smoke three km into the air and prompting the second evacuation of terrified residents. Today's eruption, the third this week, was three times stronger than the initial one recorded last Sunday. A second eruption ...


Hurricane Earl rakes U.S. East Coast with wind, rain

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:43 AM PDT

MANTEO, N.C (Reuters) - Hurricane Earl raked North Carolina's barrier islands with gusting winds, pounding surf and rain on Thursday as it took a swipe at the U.S. East Coast on an offshore path toward New England and Canada.


U.S. medical programs missing millions of kids - report

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:43 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An estimated five million uninsured children in the United States were eligible for Medicaid or the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but were not enrolled in either plan, according to a new report.


Japan whale meat case echoes apartheid: Greenpeace chief

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:31 AM PDT

TOKYO, Friday 3 September 2010 (AFP) - Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo on Friday likened Japan's treatment of two of its anti-whaling activists to the tactics of the former apartheid regime he once campaigned against in his native South Africa.

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Maybank's Indon operations unaffected by protests

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:23 AM PDT

SINGAPORE, Friday 3 September 2010 (Bernama) -- Maybank said today its banking operations in Indonesia have not been affected by the anti-Malaysia demonstrations by some of the Indonesian protester groups.

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11 Indonesian police arrested over riot deaths

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:23 AM PDT

PALU, Friday 3 September 2010 (AFP) - Indonesian police said Friday they had arrested 11 colleagues over the killing of six people when officers opened fire on a violent mob earlier this week.

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Najib receives Part 2 of NEM

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:05 AM PDT

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today received Part 2 of the New Economic Model (NEM) report from the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC).

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Iran forces surround opposition leader's home

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:01 AM PDT

TEHRAN, Friday 3 September 2010 (AFP) - Islamist militiamen and members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards surrounded the home of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi on Friday to prevent him from joining an annual government-sponsored Palestinian solidarity rally, his website said.

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Mideast leaders to hold bimonthly peace talks

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 11:46 PM PDT

WASHINGTON, Friday 3 September 2010 (AFP) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders have cleared the first hurdle in what promises to be difficult negotiations, vowing to try to settle core differences within a year and meet every two weeks.

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Thai firm rejects Indonesia's US$2.4-b oil spill claim

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 03:16 AM PDT

SYDNEY: A Thai-owned firm today rejected Indonesia's US$2.4 billion (RM7.5 billion) compensation claim over a major oil spill off Australia's north which campaigners say hit the livelihoods of thousands of poor fishermen.

PTTEP Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL, said it "has not accepted any claim" by Indonesia over the months-long Montara spill, Australia's worst offshore drilling accident.

"PTTEP Australasia wishes to confirm that it has not accepted any claim made by the Indonesian government for compensation," a statement said, adding that "no verifiable scientific evidence" has been given to support the claim.

Indonesia made the claim this week, saying it included compensation for damage to coral reefs.

The leak in the Timor Sea from Aug 21 to Nov 3 was the worst from an offshore oil platform in Australian history, although it was smaller than the recent BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Like the BP spill, it dragged on for months as the company tried to plug the flow with a relief well, a process that eventually succeeded.

It also led to calls for tougher regulation of offshore drilling and criticism of the authorities responsible for monitoring the operation.

Evidence given at a commission of inquiry showed the Montara slick grew to almost 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) and entered Indonesian waters, according to environmental group WWF.

The West Timor Care Foundation, which supports poor fishermen in eastern Indonesia, estimates the spill affected the livelihoods of about 18,000 fishermen. Businesses such as seaweed and pearl farms were also reportedly hit.

Following this year's Gulf of Mexico spill, which was the biggest maritime spill on record and spewed some 4.9 million barrels of oil, BP set up a US$20-billion compensation fund.

- AFP

 

Fears for villagers as Indonesian volcano erupts again

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 02:50 AM PDT

KABANJAHE: An Indonesian volcano unleashed its most violent eruption in 400 years today, sending a tower of ash into the air but failing to scare a few villagers who live on its slopes.

Officials said it was the strongest eruption since 2,460-metre (8,100-ft) Mount Sinabung ended its long sleep on Sunday.

"The volcano erupted at 4.38am and lasted for 13 minutes, sending a column of ash as high as 3,000 metres into the air. This is the biggest eruption," government volcanologist Agus Budianto said.

He said there had been "intense magma movement" inside the volcano since Thursday evening. When the eruption finally came, it was felt 8km (five miles) away.

Police have evacuated more than 20,000 people from a 6km danger zone around the mountain, but some villagers are refusing to leave their homes on the volcano's slopes.

Others had returned to their villages from emergency shelters on Wednesday and Thursday, thinking the worst of the eruptions were over, officials said.

Farmer Seniwati Sembiring, 25, said she preferred to stay on the mountain with her two-year-old son and husband rather than move to a shelter.

"I don't think it will threaten my life. It's only ash and it doesn't contain any poisonous gas," she said, adding that she planned to work as usual on her crops of eggplants and chillies.

She admitted, however, that the couple had spent a sleepless night listening to the rumbling of the earth.

"I stayed awake most of the night. My husband and I went outside to check as we heard the volcano rumbling strongly in the early morning, but we didn't see any lava coming out of the crater," she said.

Her husband, Surya Sitepu, said he had an escape plan -- his motorcycle.

"I'm not afraid. It's the third eruption since Sunday. If it's really dangerous the three of us will rush down the slope on my motorcycle," he said.

The sprawling Indonesian archipelago has 69 active volcanoes, more than any other country.

- AFP

Blast on Gulf of Mexico oil platform sends crew into sea

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 02:45 AM PDT

By Matt Davis

NEW ORLEANS: An oil platform explosion yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico forced the crew to dive into the sea and threatened further damage to waters still recovering from the BP disaster.

Fire engulfed the offshore platform 100 miles (160km) south of the Louisiana coast shortly after 9am (1400 GMT) and massive plumes of gray smoke billowed into the sky as rescuers rushed to fish out the workers.

Photographs showed the 13-strong crew linking arms as they bobbed up and down in special flotation suits before being plucked out of the water by a nearby rig. Three US Coast Guard helicopters and a commercial chopper then transported them to a mainland hospital.

All escaped serious injury.

Workers told rescue crews they managed to shut down the wells before evacuating the platform and had spotted a thin sheen of oil spreading for about a mile (1.6km).

Crews from three firefighting vessels managed to extinguish the blaze after about five hours and the oil sheen was no longer visible by the time the Coast Guard arrived.

"The fire is out, and Coast Guard helicopters on scene and vessels on scene have no reports of a visible sheen in the water," Coast Guard eighth district chief of staff Captain Peter Troedsson told reporters.

Coast Guard vessels and aircraft will continue surveillance of the area at first light today to search for any possible sheen, the Coast Guard Eighth District said in a statement.

"Responders remain vigilant for any evidence of oil on the water," it added.

Fresh criticism

The incident ignited fresh criticism of the oil and gas industry as the region struggles to recover from the BP disaster, the largest ever maritime oil spill.

"The BP disaster was supposed to be the wake-up call, but we hit the snooze button. Today the alarm went off again," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club environmental group.

"The oil industry continues to rail against regulation, but it's become all too clear that the current approach to offshore drilling is simply too dangerous."

An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil gushed out of a deepwater well that ruptured after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20 off the coast of Louisiana.

The explosion killed 11 workers and it took nearly three months to stem the flow of oil gushing out of the well some 5,000 feet (1,500m) below the surface.

"How many times are we going to gamble with lives, economies and ecosystems?" asked John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Oceans campaign director. "It's time we learnt from our mistakes and go beyond oil."

The Mariner Energy platform that went ablaze yesterday was operating in relatively shallow water, about 340 feet (103m), and was not a drilling rig.

It had been producing approximately 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate and 9.2 million cubic feet (260,515 cubic metres) of natural gas per day, the Texas-based company said.

Harsh criticism

The White House said early in the day that it was monitoring the situation and reserved judgment until more information was available.

"We will continue to gather information as we respond, we obviously have response assets ready for deployment, should we receive reports of pollution in the water," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Gibbs declined to say whether the president believed inspections of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were moving fast enough in the wake of the BP disaster.

It was also unclear how this incident would affect Obama's moratorium on offshore drilling, which is being challenged in the courts and has faced harsh criticism from his political foes.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has held a congressional investigation into the BP spill, sent a swift letter to Mariner Energy's chairman requesting a briefing on the incident.

"In the wake of the BP catastrophe, this is an extremely disturbing event," said committee chairman Henry Waxman, a Democrat.

"I call on the administration to immediately redouble safety reviews of all offshore drilling and platform operations in the gulf and take all appropriate action to ensure safety and protection of the environment."

The Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition insisted the fire was an "industrial accident" that could have occurred at any industrial site -- onshore or offshore."

"We should wait for the facts before we use what happened today on a production platform as a reason to stop offshore drilling, especially when the incident didn't have anything to do with offshore drilling," said Jim Noe, the group's executive director.

- AFP

 

Australian ex-policeman jailed for pushing wife off cliff

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 02:40 AM PDT

SYDNEY: A former Australian policeman was jailed for at least 24 years today for murdering his new bride by pushing her off a cliff during a camping trip.

Desmond Campbell, 52, forced his wife Janet over the 50-metre (160-ft) precipice and then said she slipped in the darkness after leaving their tent to go to the toilet, a court in Sydney heard.

Justice Megan Latham said Campbell, who had left the police and was working as a paramedic, killed his wife of six months for her money in an incident which showed "sustained callousness towards her for monetary gain".

She said Campbell chose the "most sheer and prominent cliff" in the area south of Sydney for the murder in March 2005. Video footage has shown Campbell shedding tears while making a statement to police.

Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi earlier argued that Campbell had never held true affection for his wife and wanted her money to pay off his debts.

He said by the time the besotted Janet, 49, had purchased a home in both their names, Campbell "had got as much money out of her as he could and she was then worth more to him dead than alive".

On the day Janet died, Campbell had pitched their tent "in the most unlikely, uncomfortable and unsafe spot one could imagine" close to a cliff edge, Tedeschi said.

During the four-week trial, the court heard that Campbell had jokingly referred to his new wife as so ugly "you'd have to chew your arm off if you woke up next to her".

Campbell, who once worked as a policeman in Surrey, England, had three other girlfriends during the relationship and went on holiday with one of them in the weeks after Janet's death, the court heard.

The victim's brother Kevin Neander, who was in court for the verdict, delivered a parting shot.

"I hope Des is watching this," he said. "I just reckon you are as low as a snake's guts."

- AFP

Israel, Palestinians start well, but gulf is wide

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:38 AM PDT

By Lachlan Carmichael

ANALYSIS WASHINGTON: Israel and the Palestinians yesterday got off to a good start with their first direct negotiations in 20 months, but the gulf between the two sides remains wide, analysts said.

After a year and a half of US diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas met this week in Washington to revive talks that stalled in bloodshed in December 2008.

"The first day has gone better than the administration could have expected," said Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel who now teaches at Princeton University.

Among the good signs is the "fact that this whole opening withstood the terrorism that occurred on the West Bank", Kurtzer said, referring to two Palestinian attacks that killed four Israeli settlers and wounded two others.

"It might not have" withstood the test, he said.

He also saw what he believed may be more conciliatory language by Netanyahu on Israel as a Jewish state and by Abbas on security.

The Palestinian leader stressed cooperation with Israel on security.

The Israeli premier said: "Just as you expect us to be ready to recognise a Palestinian state as the nation state of the Palestinian people, we expect you to be prepared to recognise Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people."

For Kurtzer, the formulation may provide a "small opening", but said he needed to study it further.

"I think there is a difference between calling Israel a Jewish state and calling it a nation state of the Jewish people," Kurtzer said.

Bridging the gaps

The Palestinians are reluctant to recognise Israel as a Jewish state for fear it could undermine the right-of-return claims of Palestinian refugees who left or fled Israel when it was created in 1948.

Kurtzer also welcomed the fact that Netanyahu and Abbas met each other privately for around 90 minutes.

"I'm not sure they did any negotiating. But they probably described what their priorities are and some of the constraints that they face and some of the things that bother them the most about the other," the former ambassador said.

"You get that off your chest at the beginning and then two weeks from now, you can sit down and say all right let's get down to business," he said.

The two leaders agreed yesterday to hold their second round of talks in the Middle East on Sept 14-15, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US envoy George Mitchell joining them again.

Kurtzer, who says a US presence is key to bridging gaps between the parties, said it was a good thing Clinton was going.

Nathan Brown, an analyst at The George Washington University, hesitated to welcome the announcement by US officials that Israel and the Palestinians would meet every two weeks.

"It is clear that if you want to make serious progress, you absolutely have to have the leaders involved," Brown said.

"But I think most people on both sides think that Netanyahu has an interest in negotiations, simply to keep good relations with the Americans, but has no real interest in an agreement," he said.

"If that's the case, those periodic meetings of the leaders will benefit Netanyahu without providing Abbas any political reward," Brown said.

Positive start

Brown praised the administration for the way it organised the negotiations.

"The one positive development that I would see is the presence of Egyptian and Jordanian leaders," he said, referring to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan attending White House gatherings on Wednesday.

"It means that the Obama administration does a better job than any of its predecessors in putting this in regional context and trying to align things regionally in order to produce results," Brown said.

"It is something Bush tried only in a symbolic way," he said, referring to the previous administration of George W Bush.

Egypt and Jordan are key Arab mediators as the only Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Elliot Abrams, who worked on the Annapolis peace process under Bush, saw a positive start to the talks.

"I think the atmospherics are good, but all we had in Washington is atmospherics," said the analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The negotiations havent' begun seriously and they won't begin until the Israelis and Palestinians get alone in a room," he said.

"Both Abbas and Netanyahu are serious but I don't see how they're going to get to a deal, he said.

"I think the old line still holds. The most that any Israeli government is likely to offer is less than what any Palestinian government can accept," he said.

He said the goal of settling the core issues in one year is "impossible."

The core issues are Israel's security, borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of Palestinian refugees and the future of Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital.

- AFP

Singapore Airlines curbs crew's Facebook musings

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 05:55 AM PDT

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has directed its flight attendants to avoid discussing work-related matters on Facebook and other social networking websites, company officials said today.

The image-conscious airline, which is consistently ranked by passengers as one of the world's best, took action after some cabin crew were found to have discussed confidential job issues on Facebook.

The Straits Times newspaper reported today that some crew members got warning letters for grumbling about duty rosters, passengers, and their bosses and colleagues on Facebook.

"Our staff may of course have a blog or Facebook and Twitter account like any other member of the public," an airline spokeswoman said.

"But our policy is clear that they must not comment on work matters about business or customers, so as to protect proprietary information as well as the privacy of other staff and our customers."

A posting on the SIA staff union website stated that "recently, there have been a few cases of crew being penalized for their postings on Facebook about company-related matters such as their rosters".

"Please refrain from such postings on your Facebook wall or any public forums or blog, as you do not know who is really lurking out there and who are really your friends," it added.

On one Facebook account checked by AFP, a woman calling herself an SIA flight attendant said she was "going to be upset" if she was called up for "lousy" flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong on Airbus A380 super-jumbos.

"No fair... roster no good again... no fair," said another account.

"So many flights.. So little Off Days.. I'm going crazy..." a third Facebook user remarked.

- AFP

'Red Siam' adds revolutionary twist to Thai crisis

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 05:34 AM PDT

By Ambika Ahuja

BANGKOK: A former communist and political prisoner, Surachai Danwattananusorn, has a dramatic solution to fix Thailand's political crisis: a "democratic revolution" to end what he sees as a monopoly of power by the royalist elite.

It may sound overly ambitious. But his "Red Siam" group is seeking popular support for a movement that comes dangerously close to republicanism in a country where criticism of the monarchy is punishable by up to 15 years in jail under the world's toughest lese majeste laws.

"Thailand could become a failed state under the current power structure," Surachai said.

His revolutionary rhetoric comes at a delicate time three months after the military used force to disperse "red shirt" anti-government protests backed by the rural and urban poor, a group that chafes against royalists they accuse of meddling in politics. Ninety-one people died in two months of clashes.

As Thailand struggles to heal those divisions, many are pondering the future of the royal institution that has helped to hold the country together for more than half a century.

Reverence of 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej remains widespread, but his year-long hospitalisation and silence during weeks of unrest have focused attention on his son and presumed heir, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, who does not yet command his same support, and on the crown's elite royalist backers.

"Red Siam" splintered last year from the red shirts who now distance themselves from Surachai, whose views are too risky, legally and politically, to their bid for mainstream acceptance.

The two groups are often lumped together by authorities seeking to discredit the red shirts by suggesting they want to overthrow the monarchy, an accusation red-shirt leaders deny and one that could undermine them in a country where King Bhumibol is regarded as almost divine.

Targeting the aristocracy

But both groups have much in common. They both say they are fighting against the "ammart", a broad Thai term for aristocrats and the royalist elite who back Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and are accused by the red shirts of orchestrating a 2006 military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

But while most red shirts want to topple Abhisit and replace him with Thaksin, a populist multimillionaire in self-imposed exile to avoid a graft conviction, "Red Siam" wants to go further and end what it sees as a royalist power structure.

"This fight isn't one of 'red shirts' versus this government," Surachai said. "It's a fight between the powerless majority and the few who wield power from behind the scenes. Changing the government is not going to change that."

Authorities say Surachai is part of a network that includes Thaksin and wants to destroy the monarchy, charges that Surachai considers "groundless and ridiculous", saying he only wants changes that would guarantee royal power cannot be abused.

Surachai, who was sentenced to death on murder and robbery charges as a member of the Communist Party of Thailand during a low-level 1970s insurgency before receiving a royal pardon in 1988, denies the suggestion he condones violence.

"I don't criticise the monarchy but I criticise those who claim to be loyal to the institution and accuse everyone else of disloyalty, only to retain power within their own circle."

Analysts say "Red Siam" does not pose a serious threat to the government given a lack of broad support.

"It is still a fringe movement," said Karn Yuenyong, director of independent think-tank Siam Intelligence Unit.

But Surachai wants to broaden its support, travelling to northern Thailand for three weeks to meet with red shirts there.

"What we need is a true revolution," he said.

- Reuters

Police evacuated after Indonesia riot

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 05:33 AM PDT

PALU: Police officers and their families are being evacuated to prevent further violence after a riot on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi left six people dead, a top police official said today.

Hundreds of people in the town of Buol, in Central Sulawesi province, attacked a police station with petrol bombs and stones yesterday after a man died in custody.

Officers opened fire on the mob, killing six people and injuring dozens more, but the unrest did not abate, police said.

"Until late evening, locals continued to sweep the town in search for our personnel," the national police deputy chief Yusuf Manggabarani told reporters.

Officers' houses were burnt in the disturbances, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

"We have evacuated our members and their family to safety," said Manggabarani.

"We will withdraw our local officers involved in the clash. If they are still there, it will be difficult for locals to stay calm."

Manggabarani said more than 100 replacements from the Brimob paramilitary police headquarters in Jakarta will arrive Thursday.

Around 300 police reinforcements were sent to the area yesterday, according to Antara.

Police spokesman Iskandar Hasan said yesterday the shootings were under investigation and "firm action" would be taken against any officer proven to have violated procedures.

"They have to take responsibility for every single bullet they used," he said.

- AFP

Key independent backs Australian PM to form government

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 05:25 AM PDT

By Talek Harris

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the support of a key independent MP today, leaving her just two seats from regaining power and within reach of ending a crippling political crisis.

Former Iraq war whistle-blower Andrew Wilkie said Gillard's centre-left Labor party was best placed to deliver "stable" and "competent" government after the Aug 21 election returned the first hung Parliament in 70 years.

"I have judged that it is the Australian Labor Party that best meets my criteria that the next government must be stable, must be competent and must be ethical," Wilkie told journalists in Canberra.

Wilkie's vote gives Gillard 74 seats in the 150-member lower house, just shy of an absolute majority of 76. However, Tony Abbott's opposition coalition remains in the hunt with 73 seats and three independents still undecided.

Wilkie urged the three remaining "kingmakers" to make their move soon, after nearly two weeks of political paralysis following the cliffhanger poll.

"I hope that this sends a signal to the other three independents and they move as soon as they can to make their decisions, and to decide to support a party or parties in a way that will bring stability to the parliament," he said.

The final three independents -- rural MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, and maverick Queenslander Bob Katter -- have pledged to begin formal negotiations on Friday.

Momentum is now firmly behind Gillard, Australia's first woman prime minister, after she confirmed the support of Parliament's lone Greens MP yesterday.

Gillard also received a boost when the opposition was accused of a policy blow-out of up to US$10 billion, prompting the remaining independents to question Abbott's trustworthiness.

"Essentially what we're after... is a judgment on two different teams that want to be the government for the next period of three years," Windsor said.

"One of those things that we have to establish is trust in what they're actually saying."

Rollercoaster ride

Coalition finance spokesman Andrew Robb dismissed the blow-out as a "difference of opinion", saying the Treasury used different models and data to assess the costs of policies pledged during campaigning.

Bookmakers said the costings dispute had shortened Gillard's odds of remaining as prime minister, although prices are swinging wildly and Abbott remains the narrow favourite.

Australian politics has been on a rollercoaster ride since June, when Gillard staged a shock party revolt against elected prime minister Kevin Rudd to become the country's first woman leader.

But a series of policy stumbles and poor campaigning ended in the closest election in decade, with voters failing to decisively back either major party.

The outspoken Wilkie famously blew the whistle on the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003 while working as a government intelligence analyst, sparking a political storm.

- AFP

Sri Lanka fishermen find peace leaves nets empty

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 02:15 AM PDT

By Mel Gunasekera

FEATURE TRINCOMALEE: Fishermen in the Sri Lankan port of Trincomalee hoped the end of the island's civil war would bring prosperity, but dynamite and corruption now threaten their livelihoods.

Trincomalee, on the northeast coast, has one of the world's finest natural harbours and was fiercely fought over during the war until government troops finally defeated the rebel Tamil Tigers in May last year.

"The problem we have now is that although we have the freedom to go out and work, the fish are being illegally destroyed to the point where we can't earn a living," said captain Ananda Peiris after a dawn expedition that brought in just 30kg (66 pounds) of tuna.

Peiris hoped his small boat would haul in good profits when restrictions on fishing were lifted after peace broke out.

But he says the end of the war has resulted in a free-for-all that leaves him with tiny catches as big operators bribe authorities and use dynamite to kill large numbers of fish, also damaging coral reefs.

"A lot of fishermen are going out but because others are doing dynamite and purse seine (circular net) fishing, we are not able to earn money," he said.

"We've told the government but they're not doing anything. Our natural resources are being destroyed and I don't know what to do."

Big business corruption

The Fisheries Ministry says the annual catch last year rocketed to 28,000 tonnes from just 8,000 during the war -- and it admits that the increase is due in part to illegal dynamite fishing and big business corruption.

"The government has banned this type of fishing. But we depend on the navy to patrol the waters and prevent these horrible methods," Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

"There are certain Navy officials in certain places who are also involved with the business people in the area. Therefore, they are not taking quick action," Senaratne said.

For the 8,000-strong community of small-scale fishermen in Trincomalee, there has been no sign of a "peace dividend" since decades of bloody ethnic warfare in Sri Lanka came to an end.

"During the war where we could only fish in daytime, I earned about 10,000 rupees (RM282) a day. Now I barely earn 2,000 rupees," said fisherman Mohammed Fazlan, 39.

A third-generation fisherman, Fazlan blames authorities for not tackling the illegal and unregulated fishing rackets that have taken over control of waters that were until recently infested by Tamil Tiger mines.

During the war, the Tigers carried out several daring attacks on Trincomalee harbour, which was a critical transport link from where government troops, food and ammunition were ferried to the battlefields further north.

"The illegal fishing is done under political patronage," alleged Naghappan Parasuraman, 61, president of Trincomalee Fishermen's Society. "During the war the Tigers banned it, and people were scared of them. Now no Tigers. People want quick money.

"The people who do dynamite fishing, the government must make the navy catch and punish them."

- AFP

 

Give us jobs, say Somali pirates

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 02:09 AM PDT

By Jean-Marc Mojon

FOCUS HOBYO: The pirates of old often took to the seas to rebel against the social order but in lawless Somalia, many pirates say they would happily pay taxes and take a job in a factory.

Among the pirates of Hobyo, there is no hint of libertarianism nor any assertion of an alternative lifestyle. Most describe their activity as a crime of survival.

Ahmed Osoble is too young to have witnessed any form of organised government and like many young men in central Somalia's remote coastal areas relied entirely on fishing for his livelihood.

"Since around 2003, the quantity of fish in our waters started decreasing badly and it became almost impossible to live off the sea," says Ahmed, a soft-spoken 27-year-old.

He remembers the day in 2008 he left his nets on the beach and set off on his first piracy mission.

"I wasn't scared, it was a do-or-die situation. I had nothing to eat."

On another outing the following year, Ahmed and his comrades lost their way as they were prowling the vast Indian Ocean.

"We got lost, it was raining heavily... We had no idea where we were when we saw some small yachts. They were tourists I think, we asked them and they said we were in the Seychelles. We were so confused we didn't even think of kidnapping them," he says.

"Later we saw two patrol boats and a helicopter coming our way, it was all over," Ahmed says, recalling the episode with near-embarrassment. He spent six months in detention in the Seychelles before being swapped with hostages.

"In the Seychelles, they didn't torture us but we didn't have enough to eat. We used to tie our shirts around our stomachs very tightly to stop the hunger."

Now he is still a pirate but doesn't go out at sea, has never successfully hijacked a ship, and struggles to make ends meet.

"If I could get a job in a fish factory near Hobyo and a pay every month, I would start right away," he says.

The problem is that there is no functioning industrial and marketing facility in Hobyo, no more than in any of the coastal areas from which the pirates come, nor anywhere else in the country.

Prison or bullet

Ecoterra International, a group which has campaigned for the protection of coastal communities' rights and resources in the region, has offered to implement such a project but no significant funding has yet come through.

Ismail Haji Noor is in charge of anti-piracy efforts for Galmudug state, a regional administration that recognises the federal government in Mogadishu but is trying to obtain more international recognition.

"Until we get more help, piracy will remain a reality," he says. "But what the Europeans are offering at the moment is a prison sentence or a bullet."

"I think that if these boys had an opportunity to get monthly wages, they would stop going out to sea to capture ships."

Western powers have responded to the surge in Somali piracy by dispatching dozens of warships to the region and focusing on the arrest and prosecution of suspects but have done nothing to develop alternative forms of employment.

While most pirates are former fishermen, their leaders have tasted power and someone like Mohamed Garfanji -- Somalia's top pirate -- heads a little army.

"I don't think Garfanji could return to fishing," admits Mohamed Aden "Tiiceey", the president of Himan and Heeb, another regional administration trying to take hold south of Galmudug.

"But if we get help building our administration, he would have a place as head of the coastguard. He already knows all the tricks out there."

Aweys Ali Jimaale "Madehe" ("Big Head" in Somali) is a top commander in pirate-run Hobyo who has a permanent brooding frown etched on his face.

He says he joined piracy in reaction to what he sees as collusion between foreign navies and fishing fleets to take advantage of the Somali chaos.

Jimaale insists that a chance to protect his country's waters would mean more to him than money.

"I would love to be a coast guard, even if the pay is small."

- AFP

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In the heart of Somali piratedom

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