http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/21/africa/somalia.php
Islamic militants join hunt for pirates in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Dozens of Islamic militants stormed the Somali port of Haradheere on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker on Saturday, a local elder said.
Separately, the police in the capital, Mogadishu, said they had ambushed and killed 17 Islamist militants, in an illustration of the chaos in the country that has fueled a dramatic surge in piracy.
The Sirius Star - a Saudi vessel with a cargo of oil worth $100 million and a 25-man crew from the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Poland and Britain - is believed to be anchored offshore near Haradheere, about halfway up Somalia's long coastline.
The elder in Haradheere said the Islamists had arrived wanting to find out immediately about the Sirius Star, which was captured Saturday about 770 kilometers, or 480 miles, off Somalia.
"The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship," said the elder, who declined to be identified. "I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."
Sheik Abdirahim Isse Adow, an Islamist spokesman, said: "Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and hijacking its ship is a bigger crime than other ships. Haradheere is under our control and we shall do something about that ship."
Both the U.S. Navy and the Dubai-based ship operator Vela International said they could not confirm a media report that the hijackers were demanding a $25 million ransom. That would be the biggest demand to date by pirates who prey on boats in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia.
In Mogadishu, meanwhile, the police said they had killed 17 fighters from the militant Al Shabaab group during an attempted attack on a senior official.
The Islamists have been fighting the government and its Ethiopian allies for about two years. They launch guerrilla strikes in the capital almost daily and control most of the south, including a town just 14 kilometers from Mogadishu.
Islamist leaders deny allegations they collude with pirates and insist they will stamp down on them if they win power, citing a crackdown when they ruled the south briefly in 2006. Some analysts, however, say Islamist militants are benefiting from the spoils of piracy and arms shipments facilitated by the sea gangs. Analysts also accuse government figures of collaboration with pirates.
