The US will lead a new international force to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, the US navy...

A British journalist seized by kidnappers in Somalia and held for 40 days has spoken of how he feared for his...

African Union officials in Somalia tell the BBC they will plug the gaps left by departing Ethiopian...

A British journalist and his Spanish colleague have been released by Somali kidnappers, according to officials in the...

Some Mogadishu police stations are taken over by militiamen as Ethiopian troops leave after two years in...

Ethiopia says its troops have begun pulling out of Somalia, after two years helping the government fight...

There has been a sharp reduction in the number of ships seized by pirates off Somalia, the International Maritime Bureau...

Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned today following an internal power struggle and intense pressure from regional and Western powers who accused him of blocking peace efforts in the conflict-ravaged country.Yusuf, 74, told parliament that a lack of international support had left him unable to establish stability and democracy, and that he was handing over power to the parliamentary speaker, Sheikh Aden Madobe."As I promised when you elected me on October 14, 2004, I would stand down if I failed to fulfil my duty, I have decided to return the responsibility you gave me," he said.The transitional federal government that Yusuf, a former warlord, headed was an interim administration backed by the United Nations, and was meant to prepare the country for elections next year. Instead,...

The German navy foils an attempt by pirates off Somalia to hijack an Egyptian vessel but immediately releases...

The African Union's peace and security council is holding urgent talks on ways to boost peacekeeping efforts in...

African foreign ministers gather in Ethiopia for a series of talks on the deepening political and security crisis in...

China will send two destroyers and a supply vessel to the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant ships from pirates, state media...

The time is not right to send United Nations peacekeepers to Somalia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has...

A top US naval commander dampens hopes that piracy off Somalia can be tackled by attacking bases on...

The United States has requested international authorisation for countries pursuing Somali pirates to hunt them down on land.A draft resolution that would permit states fighting piracy to "take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including in its airspace" has been circulated to members of the UN Security Council. Prior consent for raids would be required from Somalia's weak and fractured government.The resolution, which will be discussed at a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, highlights the concern that naval patrols alone will not deter the gangs terrorising one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Two Yemeni fishing boats were today reported to have been hijacked, adding to the dozen that have been captured off Somalia since October 24 when Nato sent four warships to the...

This ship looks like a ship of the Royal Navy. It bears the title HMS Cumberland, so you would think it was a British ship. Until recently, it had been undertaking NATO led counter-piracy missions off Somalia, when it was most definitely a British ship.But that was before Monday. As of then – and currently – it is an EU ship, under EU political control, leading the European Union's first naval task force in an operation, called Op ATALANTA.That's what the MoD website quite openly tells us, also proudly declaring that the Royal Navy's Rear Admiral Phil Jones took charge of "the EU led counter-piracy naval operation," which is to operate off the coast of Somalia. Additionally, you will be pleased to know, the UK will provide a frigate for the first period of the operation.Phil also...

Yesterday marked the launch of the European Union's naval mission to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and along the Somali Coast, under British command.  It is a hugely tough job, inextricably linked to the ground situation in Somalia, but vital for global trade and security.  The mission's key roles are to protect World Food Programme humanitarian deliveries to Somalia, protecting  other vulnerable shipping and deterring and disrupting piracy more widely.  The mission, called Operation "Atalanta",  also includes airborne surveillance in known piracy high risk areas.  Warships and patrol aircraft from  eight  nations including the UK  are so far committed to participate in "Atalanta", and the EU has made clear it would...

Tuesday was the Queen's Speech opening the new Session of Parliament. In the 46 years since I entered the Commons in 1962 I have never attended this event, because it portrays Westminster as a theatre of charade and pageant, when in fact its a working environment. Of course the state opening makes better TV than the everyday grind of standing committees, but which is actually of more importance to people's lives?Yesterday, the media reported the finding of the European Court of Justice that it was unlawful for the Government to retain DNA samples and fingerprints of suspects later found not guilty indefinitely. The Govenment will have to ensure that fingerprints or biometric samples taken from a suspected person are destroyed if he isn't charged, or is found not guilty. There are said to...

Ethiopia has announced plans to withdraw all of its troops from Somalia by the end of year, raising the possibility of a complete takeover of the country by Islamist groups. Thousands of Ethiopian soldiers were sent into Somalia two years ago to back the weak interim government. But after ousting the Islamic Courts Union, which controlled the capital Mogadishu, the army has become bogged down in a guerilla war that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Amid growing human and financial costs, the Ethiopian foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin wrote to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and the African Union this week informing them of the decision. "Regardless of what happens, we have decided to withdraw our troops from Somalia at the end of the year," Wahide Belay, a spokesman for the Ethiopian...

All Ethiopian troops will leave Somalia by the end of the year, the country's foreign ministry...

A British and Spanish journalist in Somalia covering the pirate hijackings are kidnapped, local authorities...

A BBC journalist shot dead on assignment in Somalia felt she had no choice but to go to the war-torn country to "prove" her devotion and help secure a new contract, an inquest was told yesterday. Members of Kate Peyton's family said the producer had been told before she was asked to go to Mogadishu that there were doubts about her commitment, and she had feared she would not get a fourth year added to her contract.She was killed by a suspected Islamist gunman within hours of arriving in the lawless capital to cover the Somali peace process in February 2005, the inquest at Ipswich crown court heard.Peyton, 39, was not wearing a flak jacket because it was believed this might attract unwanted attention and make her a target.Her sister, Rebecca, told the hearing the producer had been working...

Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… 12 Killer Ways to Make Extra Income On the Web "None of these ideas will likely net you a full time income on their own — though there are certainly people who have managed to do so with each — but a couple of them in tandem, or in addition to your usual freelance work or day job, can make you some much needed extra cash." Tagged with: internet • business • freelance • income • Hostile Takeovers or Good Corporate Governance? "The origins of Somali piracy are not found in the southern half of the country, where a “transitional government” is dueling the Union of Islamic Courts with the half-hearted assistance of the Ethiopian military. Somali piracy originates in Puntland,...

The inquest into the death of a BBC producer killed in Somalia examines whether she felt under pressure to take the...

Zam Zam Abdi fled Mogadishu after being threatened with death by the hardline Islamist militia - the Shabab. The message from the armed group once allied to the Union of Islamic Courts, the coalition that briefly seized power in 2006, was simple: if she continued working for her women's rights organisation in the Somali capital, she would be killed. The warning was posted on her office gates. But it is what happened to a friend and colleague, working for another organisation, that persuaded her to escape. He was shot dead and the same note left on his body.'Most of us had to leave,' she said. 'We had emails and phone calls telling us to stop working. They used an expression famous in Somalia: Falka aad ku jirtid maka baxeeysa. May ama haa? It means - "Stop what you are doing or we will...

Pirates holding a Saudi supertanker off the coast of Somalia have reportedly told the ship's owners to pay a $25m (£16.9m) ransom within 10 days or face "disastrous" consequences. The Sirius Star, which is carrying 2m barrels of oil worth £68m, was captured on Saturday and is being held near the town of Harardheere along Somalia's eastern coast. The 25 crew, including two Britons, are being kept hostage on the ship.A pirate who called himself Mohammad Said told Agence France-Presse via satellite phone that Vela International, a subsidiary of the state oil company Saudi Aramco, had received the demand for the $25m ransom. "We do not want long-term discussions to resolve this matter," the pirate said. "The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could...

The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed fresh sanctions on Somalia today amid calls for armed peacekeepers to be sent to the Horn of Africa.The diplomatic initiative came as Arab countries held a crisis meeting on how to tackle piracy, as the gang who hijacked a Saudi supertanker demanded a $25m ransom to be paid within 10 days.The 15-nation Security Council in New York adopted a British plan for enhanced sanctions aimed at freezing the assets of those involved in piracy and undermining Somalia's weakened national government. There has been a UN arms embargo against Somalia since 1992.The most senior diplomat of the African Union also called for UN peacekeepers to be sent to Somalia. Increasing piracy, he said, was "a clear indication of the further deterioration of the...

These pirates could be the best thing that have ever happened to Somalia. I don't mean this in a "they're daring entrepreneurs" sense of course, current fashionable cool aside, pirates are murdering, kidnapping bastards - but in the long run they might prove to be useful if they focus the world's attention on some of the facts of life in Africa.The Sirius Star (right) may be the biggest tanker that's ever been hijacked, but it certainly isn't alone. It's the 90th ship this year to be hijacked by Somalian pirates who currently have a whole flotilla of vessels they've half inched from the high seas.We're even back to the good old days where you have entire pirate towns. If you've ever wondered what a pirate city looks like by the way try Google maps and search for Eyl in Somalia, and scroll...

Somalia, a failed state. With all the hoopla over the latest string of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia it is easy to forget that Somalia is the embarrassment of international diplomacy. After the civil war of the early nineties and the infamous failure of the UN Peacekeeping mission, Somalia was abandoned by the civilised world and the Somalis left to fend for themselves in a country without the rule of law. Now we see what that means... piracy upon ships in the area, murder and injustice on land, and constant never ending instability. We have women being publicly executed for being raped. Sorry... when I say executed I mean being buried up to her neck and then stoned in front of a large crowd. When some tried to rescue her a boy in the crowd was shot. Somalia sounds more like...

A Saudi oil tanker hijacked in the Indian Ocean is believed to have anchored off the coast of Somalia, its operators...