Somali pirates hijack fuel tanker

MOGADISHU - Somali pirates have hijacked a fuel tanker 150 km north of the capital Mogadishu.

The ship had just offloaded a cargo of fuel and had left El Ade port - a site seized by Islamist militia in fighting with an alliance of warlords last week that killed at least 70 people - when gunmen stormed it on Wednesday.

"The ship was hijacked yesterday near Adale, 150 km north of El Ade, after it dispensed oil," Fuad Ali, who works with El Ade's port authorities, said.

"We have yet to find out details of the hijacking." Somalia's lawless Indian Ocean waters are among the world's most dangerous. The country fell into anarchy after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

Craft plying the waters are routinely attacked by gunmen in heavily-armed speedboats who demand ransom for the return of the ship or cargo - which often ends up being stolen.

The piracy epidemic has often stopped food aid getting into the poor country. Sailors have been held for as long as 100 days and a cruise ship with more than 300 on board was attacked with rockets and machine guns last year.

Somalia has no coast guard to protect vessels, but the US Navy earlier this month returned fire on a suspected pirate ship, killing one and wounding five while on patrol.

- REUTERS