Why Does Russian Support Gaddafi?

Why Does Russian Support Gaddafi?
Three Reasons.

• First, an historic defense connection. Gaddafi fashioned a hybrid economy which included many socialist features, which facilitated Libya's cold war strategy. The majority of Libyans military equipment is from the Russian defense industry,
• Second, Russia sees itself as a a counter-weight against NATO, which is working to defend the Libyan rebels.
• Third Gazprom The FSB -Laced multi-national Russian oil company Begin exploring an oil field asst swap with Libya last year.

The pensions of many KGB agents depend of Gazprom profits, and they will lose influence and oil field assets if Gaddafi leaves the scene.

-Shimron Issachar

Viktor Bout Tries to tell Kremlin he will keep Quiet

Viktor continues his dance...

****************
By Andrew Osborn, Moscow 9:00PM GMT 09 Jan 2011

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, international lawyer Robert Amsterdam said that Mr Bout, who was extradited to America from Thailand in November, possessed a treasure trove of compromising information.

"It is limitless," said Mr Amsterdam. "He is connected to Russia's shadow state and the most powerful elements of the power elite. He has tremendous information on how that shadow state works and on its dealings with Venezuela, Iran and across Asia.

"It would be an intelligence coup to debrief this man if he will allow himself to be debriefed."

In a recent interview with Russia's RIA Novosti news agency from his New York prison cell, Mr Bout disclosed how US authorities had tried to get him to break his silence.

"I was offered a milder sentence, a lower prison term and the possibility to bring my family to the US if I tell them everything I know about my ties in Russia and other countries," he said.

"But I replied that I had nothing to tell them and that I don't know anything about the subjects they are interested in."

Mr Bout, who is often referred to as the 'Lord of War' because of a 2005 Hollywood film based on his life of the same name, was arrested in 2008 in Thailand after a sting operation masterminded by the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Federal agents said they caught him offering to supply weapons to people he believed were Columbian FARC rebels.

The 43-year-old former Soviet army translator founded a vast air transport empire after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union that allegedly supplied weapons to fuel a string of wars in Africa and the Middle East.

Washington's battle to extradite him faced serious opposition from Moscow, which reacted with fury when it learnt he had been secretly flown to America to face trial.

The Kremlin and his family continue to insist he is an ordinary businessman.

Mr Bout, who has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, is due to appear in a New York court on January 21 for an initial hearing. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a minimum of 25 years.

The Rest @ The Telegrapah (UK)

Somali Bound Arms Captured in South Africa

Dec 23 2010

An arms-shipment from Malta, purportedly earmarked to 'help fight Somalian pirates', was 'illegally diverted" to the illegal arms trade in South Africa claims the SAPS, whose task force raided a Westville Durban home and confiscated

• 308 rifles,
• two shotguns,
• two AM3 assault rifles with telescopic lens and silencers, and
• 592 rounds of ammunition.

The South African harbour is well known among international security agencies for its many illegal shipments of weapons to African 'rebels' and terrorist groups

Four people of unknown origin including three women, were arrested on Thursday when Durban police raided a Westville home and seized weapons and ammunition which the Mercury wrote was 'believed to be destined for Somalia to help in the fight against piracy, but which had been illegally diverted".

Nompumelelo Magwaza and Kyle Venktess wrote in the Mercury that the weapons came from Malta (which has no arms industry…).

Police spokesman Lt-Col Vincent Mdunge refused to tell the Mercury who this arms shipment had been designated to, claiming 'itwas still being investigated".

The investigation which led them to the house in Westville had been ongoing and more firearms could be found. "We believe the firearms were illegally diverted to South Africa, but how they ended up in Durban remains a mystery," he said. "We believe the house was being used as a firearms holding area," Mdunge said.

Those arrested, two 20-year-old women, a 28-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, would appear in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court today. It is believed that part of the house had been converted into offices where two women were working.

Who was buying these weapons headed for Somalia?

There is indeed a rather strangely-convoluted and secretive trade going on between South African business people in Zululand and Somalia's mineral-rich, self-styled independent Puntland region (pop. 2.4-million) which also is important to the international naval task force fighting Somalian piracy. There apparently is an an ethnic-cleansing campaign going on against the Warsangali tribe living in the mineral-rich villages, allegedly being led by warlord Cabdiraxman Faroole if Western military sources are to be believed.

They claim that he used to be engaged in human trafficking and piracy but that the traditional council of Puntland has lately 'taken a hard line against piracy.' Faroole apparently has signed deals to sell the region's rare minerals and tin to an Australian mining company. To do all this, he obviously needs lots of firearms to make the area secure for mining.

Puntland warlord Cabdiraxman Faroole training more than a thousand soldiers:Puntland's warlord is said to be training more than a thousand soldiers: to 'fight piracy' as he claims, but Somalia and the Pentagon are accusing him of mounting an ethnic cleansing campaign against local Warsangali tribesmen to make the region secure for an Australian company to mine the region's 30,000 tons of tin mineral worth about 250 million American dollars.

Two villages in particular are being converted into safe mining regions: Galgala and Mijayahan. Somalia's provisional 'government' arrested "six Russian crew members" and seized this hired South African plane which was 'carrying military supplies to Puntland' the Somalian authorities claimed.']

However it may all have been a terrible mistake… the plane may have been hired by an American documentary-producer to transport a South African TV-crew to cover a news story in Somalia… all the equipment found on board were of a 'non-lethal' nature…

Somaliland's interior minister, Mohamed Abdi Gabose, was adamant however, telling reporters in the regional capital Hargeysa that the cargo plane was in violation of the international arms embargo on Somalia.

"The aircraft was originally coming from South Africa and Kampala. They asked for permission to land at our airport after experiencing a fuel shortage," Gabose said. "But it landed before we officially gave our green light and we have seized the plane," he said, adding that the six crew members were arrested.

"This aircraft was heading to Puntland and carried military uniforms as well as other supplies for the newly recruited militiamen," the minister claimed. -----------Puntland is crucial to the multinational task-force which fights the Somalian pirates: most of their naval bases are along its shoreline.

The US-government has however been vehemently opposed to Somalia's use of the UK-based 'private security company' Saracen International to help 'train a dedicated anti-piracy force'.

The Pentagon was angered by the move, claiming that it was concerned over 'the lack of transparency regarding the funding'. "This company that is training the militiamen is doing illegal business and violated the international arms embargo on Somalia," Gabose said. "The military training provided to Puntland is a threat to Somaliland's security and to that of the region in general," he said. Airport officials said heavy security was deployed around the plane as its cargo and manifest were being further investigated.http://ping.fm/x4voE '

Afrikaner TV-journalists released by Somalia: mistaken for mercenaries: The Mercury noted in their story however that Afrikaner TV-journalists Anton van der Merwe and Chris Everson from Cape Town were released by the Somalian authorities.

They were mistaken for mercenaries and were arrested in Somalia on December 10.The two journalists work for SPA, an American documentary news show and had been enroute to cover an independent production in Somalia. They were arrested when boarding a charter aircraft which had been arranged for them by the American company.http://ping.fm/kK14M---------------------------------------------Somalian pirates still hold two white South Africans:

Somali pirates have been involved in horrifically cruel kidnappings and hijackings of ships and their crews along the entire East Coast of Africa up to Kenya for the past two decades. As their wealth grew, they have become more sophisticated: purchasing hi-tech equipment and focussing on kidnapping the most lucrative targets: whites on board ships passing the East-African coastline.

White captives fetch millions of dollars in ransom and because the pirates also use the news media to put pressure on the families of their captives, they usually get paid very well indeed. At the moment, one white couple from Durban is still held captive: Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Caitz were kidnapped by the armed pirates along with skipper Peter Eldridge on October 26. Within ten days, a Dutch naval vessel ran their vessel ashore; forcing the pirates to flee with the couple while leaving Eldridge behind: he refused to leave the yacht. Eldridge was then brought back to Richards Bay by the Dutch naval vessel.

The International Maritime Organisation and the World Food Programme have expressed concern over the alarming rise in piracy along the East African coastline. For the past ten years, companies have increasingly been diverting their ships around the Cape of Good Hope, causing soaring shipping coasts and seriously interfering with the shipments of emergency food-aid to famine-struck regions.

A multinational coalition naval task force including Russia, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, the USA and Japan has been set up to patrol the vast stretches of Indian ocean to combat the scourge. Increasingly wealthy Somalian pirates in their high-speed boats have kidnapped thousands of people and hundreds of marine vessels from as far away from Somalia as the Seychelles islands and even in Kenya. This was a compilation of the Mercury articleand other news sources.

The Rest @ The Long Walk Since Freedom

Beltech Export and Others Under US Sanctions

July 14, 2010
A determination has been made that a number of foreign entities and one foreign person have engaged in activities that warrant the imposition of measures pursuant to Section 3 of the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

The Act provides for penalties on entities and individuals for the transfer to or acquisition from Iran since January 1, 1999, the transfer to or acquisition from Syria since January 1, 2005, or the transfer to or acquisition from North Korea since January 1, 2006, of equipment and technology controlled under multilateral control lists (Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, Chemical Weapons Convention, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement) or otherwise having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or cruise or ballistic missile systems.

The latter category includes (a) items of the same kind as those on multilateral lists but falling below the control list parameters, when it is determined that such items have the potential of making a material contribution to WMD or cruise or ballistic missile systems, (b) other items with the potential of making such a material contribution, when added through case-by-case decisions, and (c) items on U.S. national control lists for WMD/missile reasons that are not on multilateral lists. Effective Date: July 14, 2010. Reference Federal Register: July 14, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 134).

Pursuant to Sections 2 and 3 of the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (Pub. L. 109-353), the U.S. Government determined on June 30, 2010, that the measures authorized in Section 3 of the Act shall apply to the following foreign persons identified in the report submitted pursuant to Section 2(a) of the Act:

• BelTechExport (Belarus) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof;
• Mr. Karl Lee (China); Dalian Sunny Industries (China) also known as: LIMMT (Dalian) Metallurgy and Minerals Co.,
• LIMMT (Dalian) Economic and Trade Organization, and Liaoning Industry & Trade Co., Ltd. (China) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof; Shanghai Technical By-Products International (STBPI) (China) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof;
• Zibo Chemet Equipment Company (China) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof;
• Defense Industries Organization (Iran) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof; Shahid Bakeri Industries Group (SBIG) (Iran) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof;
• Korea Mining Development Corporation (KOMID) (North Korea) and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof;

Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the following measures are imposed on these entities:

• 1. No department or agency of the United States Government may procure, or enter into any contract for the procurement of any goods, technology, or services from these foreign persons, except to the extent that the Secretary of State otherwise may have determined;
• 2. No department or agency of the United States Government may provide any assistance to the foreign persons, and these persons shall not be eligible to participate in any assistance program of the United States Government, except to the extent that the Secretary of State otherwise may have determined;
• 3. No United States Government sales to the foreign persons of any item on the United States Munitions List are permitted, and all sales to these persons of any defense articles, defense services, or design and construction services under the Arms Export Control Act are terminated; and
• 4. No new individual licenses shall be granted for the transfer to these foreign persons of items the export of which is controlled under the Export Administration Act of 1979 of the Export Administration Regulations, and any existing such licenses are suspended.
  

These measures shall be implemented by the responsible departments and agencies of the United States Government and will remain in place for two years from the effective date, except to the extent that the Secretary of State may subsequently determine otherwise.

A new determination will be made in the event that circumstances change in such a manner as to warrant a change in the duration of sanctions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: On general issues: Stephen J. Tomchik, Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation, Department of State, Telephone (202) 647-7383. For U.S. Government procurement ban issues: Kimberly Triplett, Office of the Procurement Executive, Department of State, Telephone: (703) 875-4079.

The Rest @ The US National Contract Management Association

Israeli-Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak has been sentenced in Paris to 6 years in jail for arms trafficking, corruption and tax evasion. His lawyer says he is a victim of political and legal machinations.

The businessman’s partner, French magnate Pierre Falcone, has also been convicted to six years behind bars and was immediately arrested. Arkady Gaydamak was sentenced in absentia, and it is unclear whether he will ever serve the prison term, as he reportedly is currently living in Russia.

The judge said that Gaydamak’s guilt is burdened with his attitude toward justice – the Israeli businessman of Soviet origin has ignored all requests to appear in court.

Gaydamak’s lawyer told RIA Novosti news agency it’s very much likely that they are going to appeal the court’s decision.

Falcone’s attorney is confident the case was politically motivated.

“The court hasn’t looked for any other guilty persons, even though the investigation revealed that state services had been well informed,” he is quoted as saying. “The court has interpreted the case in a wrong way. Obviously, we are going to immediately appeal the decision and demand that Pierre Falcone be released.”

The two businessmen are accused of buying Soviet-made tanks, helicopters and artillery pieces and then selling them in the 1990s to Angola during a civil war.

All the weapons – worth about $ 790 million – came from Russia through a French-based firm and its subsidiary in Eastern Europe, a company controlled by Gaydamak and Falcone.

The businessmen did not deny that they organized arms supplies to Angola.

• What they refused to admit is the accusation that they sold 170,000 antipersonnel mines.
• The two also claim they didn’t have to get the French approval for weapons supplies, since they were transported to Angola through the territory of former socialist states.
• The lawyers cited a letter sent last summer to Falcone by French Defense Minister Herve Morin where the official said the trade didn’t require permission.
• The judge nevertheless said the letter would not influence the outcome of the case.

The Rest @ Russia Today

Viktor Bout, Arms Trafficker, May Be Released Soon

If Americans think we have problems with the recent disruption of a suspected terrorist cell in New York, they haven't seen anything yet.

An appellate court in Thailand appears primed to uphold a recent lower court ruling that will unleash Viktor Bout, universally known as the "Merchant of Death," back on the global community. To say that Bout is upset with the United States after spending more than a year in a Thai prison would be a gross understatement.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Council (NSC) and the Department of State, not to mention the United Nations, many other countries and several international human rights groups, had been tracking Bout for several years, and all believed he posed a formidable risk to our national security and the global community.

So it was no surprise when the NSC asked me, as the chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2007, to direct the agency's tradecraft at bringing Bout to justice. The NSC was impressed with the DEA's recent string of successes in apprehending a number of high-value terrorist-related suspects, all captured utilizing purely judicial methods - exactly what President Obama strongly advocates.

Bout, whose legendary character is the basis for the movie "Lord of War" and the subject of the highly successful book "Merchant of Death," has been held in prison since his arrest by Thai authorities. Bout, who many intelligence experts think is a former KGB agent, fell for an extraordinarily complex DEA undercover operation that lured him from Russia to Thailand for the sake of consummating a major arms deal with undercover DEA operatives, who he thought were representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

FARC, which is designated by the U.S., the European Union and many other nations as a terrorist organization, has also been labeled my most experts as the world's single-largest cocaine trafficking cartel. The DEA sting was closely coordinated with our intelligence community, as well as high-level officials of the same Thai justice system that could be turning this malevolent thug loose on a world that would be far safer if he were kept behind bars.

The evidence clearly reveals that Bout believed he was selling a massive quantity of AK-47 assault rifles, surface-to-air missiles and rocket-propelled grenades to FARC for use against U.S. personnel and interests. This latest event in Bout's shadowy existence adds yet another layer of intrigue onto the man who is responsible for facilitating terrorism, murder and genocide at levels unmatched by anyone else in recent time.

Bout exploded onto the international scene shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union, when he effectively leveraged his high-level former Soviet military and intelligence contacts and pounced on a capitalistic opportunity to sell a limitless assortment of Soviet arms that had been stockpiled during the Cold War. I'm talking about everything from AK-47 assault rifles by the millions to such advanced heavy weapons as Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships, tanks and Igla surface-to-air shoulder-fired missiles that can knock down commercial airliners as easily as a sawed-off shotgun could blast ducks in a barrel.

His clientele were the potpourri of modern-day scum: global terrorists, ruthless dictators, merciless drug kingpins and other transnational organized criminal groups. However, it is the mark that Bout left on Africa that qualifies him as the world's deadliest "shadow facilitator."

Bout flooded the continent with hundreds of thousands of AK-47s and other modern weaponry before his arrest. Those arms replaced machetes and other archaic weapons wielded by heavily exploited and drugged young boys, who made up the ranks of several insurgent groups, and instantly transformed them from random murderers into perverse, mindless killing machines operating with assembly-line efficiencies. A million or more innocent Africans were slaughtered.

The recent Thai lower-court ruling declared that Bout could not be prosecuted in Thailand because the country did not distinguish the FARC as a terrorist organization, nor did the court recognize the group as a "criminal organization," which is utterly ludicrous. Many nations do not agree with our country's list of designated terrorist organizations, but every responsible nation in the world recognizes FARC as an international organized crime powerhouse. And we did not ask Thailand to prosecute Bout; we simply asked that Thailand extradite him to the U.S., so we could prosecute on our own soil a treacherously dangerous man who is hell-bent on supporting terrorism directed at our country and mayhem throughout the world.

The arcane lower court decision came after a year's worth of judicial proceedings that strongly indicated the Thais would move to approve extradition. Many intelligence experts, as well as international human rights activists, think Thailand's judicial action is highly suspicious. One thing is for sure: the last thing Russia wants is Bout on American soil spilling his guts after getting a taste of American justice meted out in a federal courthouse.

Something else is certain: Treacherous men hold grudges. If the NSC thought Bout was a substantial threat to our national security before the DEA stung him hard, he will certainly be a greater danger once the Thai government unleashes him on the global community.

Michael A. Braun served as the assistant administrator and chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for four years before retiring in October 2008, after 34 years in law enforcement.

The Rest @ The Washington Post

Ruissins Cpature Pirates off Somalia

2-13-09

Russian warship has captured three pirate vessels off Somalia, news
agencies quoted the Russian navy as saying on Friday.

The nuclear-powered warship, Peter the Great, also detained 10 pirates
on the boats, Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the Russian navy as saying.

Pirates from Somalia target merchant ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden, which
connects Europe and Asia via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Navies from several different countries -- including the United States, Britain, India and Russia -now patrol the sea off the unstable Horn of Africa to deter pirates.

The Rest @ Xamar Radio

Viktor Bout and Beltech Export Connection

This is the entire snippit from Aairplanebuysale. The Videos no longer exisit

July 2006

Is Russia using Belarus as a proxy agent to sell weapons to regimes like Iran or North Korea? Reports are emerging which paint a disturbing picture.

For more than a decade, President Lukashenko has maintained his grip on power using proceeds from the global arms trade.

Victor Bout, one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, is believed to be behind Belarus’ highest profile arms company, Beltechexport.

“He’s the man who helped Beltechexport become a major player in the arms market,” states journalist Svetlana Klink. But as former KGB agent Sergio Anisko points out: “Bout has deep connections with the Russian military.”

Anisko claims Lukashenko is little more that the Krelim’s puppet. “The FSB doesn’t just have complete control of the Belarusian military, it dictates Belarusian policy.”

He also believes the most controversial arms sales are made on behalf of Moscow. But since Russia manufactured the only anti-aircraft missile capable of fending off an American attack, Washington is paying close attention to Belarus. It fears this weapon could end up in the hands of countries like Iran.

As David Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State declares: “The US is not going to sit ideally by while Lukashenko engages in reckless and dangerous arms sales.”

Duration : 0:22:53

This is the entire snippit from Aairplanebuysale. The Videos no longer exisit that I can find.

-Shimron

Pirates who took the Faina Are offloading Weapons

This is an exerpt from Doug Farah's Blog.

Note that the Pirates are trying now to offload what every they can from the Faina

-Shimron

“The Islamists have sent pick-ups from Mogadishu to go and collect the gear,” said an analyst with a network of Somali informers. “There’s not much they can do with the tanks — they can’t get them off — but the rest of the weapons they are trying to move ashore.”

Somalia’s insurgents have made a series of impressive gains in recent weeks. They now control the port city of Kismayo and have armed and equipped pirate gangs as part of a campaign to control the seas.

So, radical Islamists supporting piracy that yields not only large amounts of wealth, but obstructs a major world sea lane, while at the same time effectively starving much of their own population by making it virtually impossible to deliver humanitarian aid to the region.

And, while the government of Kenya claims the shipment, including the tanks and other sophisticated weaponry, were for its army, it seems at least a good chunk were actually destined for southern Sudan.

I would like to see the end-user certificate for the transaction. Using a flag of convenience ship to send weapons to one of the world’s most volatile regions, and making no efforts to insure the safe passage, despite a record number of hijacking in the very same waters, seems just a bit reckless.

The Islamists, of course, are looking for weapons. The Russians, as we have increasingly seen, are not overly concerned about where their weapons end up, be it Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela or, in the recent past, Mogadishu.

Pirates, of course, look to acquire merchandise of value and resell it. They are part of the facilitating network. If we were willing to pay $20 million, they would likely give the weapons to the U.S. navy. It really doesn’t matter to them, as long as their profits hold up.



This from the Washington Times

-Shimron

Andrew Mwangura, a director of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Program, said shipping documents and other sources indicate that in the past two years, Ukrainian arms dealers have made four shipments of tanks and heavy weapons to southern Sudan via Kenya. Mwangura's organization has contacts among shippers and Somali clans, and has provided accurate information in the course of the hijacking.

Radio France Internationale said it had reached the Somali pirates aboard the Faina by satellite telephone Monday, and aired a recording of a man pledging to fight back if the Americans or anyone else attacked.

"Ships and troops have surrounded us," said a man identified by RFI as pirate Sugule Ali. He spoke in Somali.


"There's a lot of unusual movement surrounding us, and planes are flying overhead," the man said. "I warn anyone who might be tempted by any military operation or use of force, if we're attacked, we'll defend ourselves, until the last one of us dies."


The man repeated a demand for $20 million in ransom for the release of the ship and the crew. He did not say whether the pirates intended to keep the arms, apparently discovered by the hijackers only after they took control of the vessel.

The crew members number 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one person described as either Latvian or Lithuanian.


One crew member, Viktor Nikolsky, spoke to Kenyan officials over the weekend and told them the Faina's captain had died of "hypertension," the independent Russian news Web site Gazeta.ru reported.

American and Russian Ships Surround Pirated Ukranian Ship full of Tanks Off Somalia

CNN) -- Gunfire broke out Tuesday aboard a cargo ship carrying tanks and other heavy weapons which was hijacked last week by pirates off the coast of Somalia, a Kenyan maritime official says.

It was not known whether the gunfire was among the pirates, or an exchange of shots with authorities near the vessel, said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association.

On Monday, a shootout between rival pirate factions left three pirates dead, he said.

That shootout centered on a disagreement between moderate and radical pirates aboard the MV Faina, Mwangura said. The moderates wanted to surrender, but the radicals did not.

The presence of the U.S. Navy nearby had made some of the pirates nervous, Mwangura said.

Several Navy ships continued to monitor the seized ship, which is loaded with Soviet-era tanks and weapons, Lt. Nathan Christensen told CNN on Tuesday.

Christensen declined to specify how many U.S. ships were involved. He also declined to specify how close the warships were to the seized vessel other than to say: "Several are in visual range, and several are in the immediate vicinity."

U.S. ship fires shots toward boats off Somalia
French hostages freed in gunbattle with pirates
The pirated ship, he said, was anchored off the coast inside Somalia's territorial 12-mile limit.

The Navy ships were not involved in negotiations between the pirates and the shipping company, Christensen said.

"We want the crew to remain safe and for the cargo not to fall into the wrong hands," Christensen told CNN earlier.

The pirates, who Christensen said were "loitering on and around the ship," had lowered their ransom demand from $35 million to $20 million.

Mwangura told CNN on Monday that the organization's sources in Somalia reported the change in the ransom amount.

The pirates hijacked the ship off the coast of Somalia on Thursday. The Faina had been headed to the Kenyan port of Mombasa after departing from Nikolayev, Ukraine, and was seized not far from its destination.

The Faina is owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, and its crew includes citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Latvia, the Navy said.

Abdi Salan Khalif, commissioner of the coastal town of Harardhere, told CNN the pirates told a group of town elders that one crew member had died of high blood pressure problems.

The Ukrainian ministry said the ship is carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms. Ukraine sold the weapons to Kenya, said Ukraine Defense Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency




The Rest @ CNN

Gazprom Planning Libya-Europe Pipeline

10 July Bloomberg- By Lucian Kim

Gazprom, Russia's state- controlled energy company, offered to buy all oil and gas available for export from Libya, threatening to grab greater control of Europe's energy supplies.

Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller made the proposal to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi during a visit to Tripoli yesterday, the Moscow-based company said in a statement.

• Libya exported about 1.53 million barrels of oil a day in 2006, almost enough to supply Italy.
• Gazprom considers the country its priority partner in North Africa and said it registered a unit called Gazprom Libya in Tripoli.
• Less than a month ago the company opened its first African office in neighboring Algeria. Russia, the world's largest producer of natural gas, is seeking to lead closer coordination among nations that produce the fuel.

The Libyan side positively evaluated Gazprom's proposal to buy all future volumes of gas, oil and liquefied natural gas assigned for export at competitive prices,'' Gazprom said. The two sides agreed to start talks on Gazprom buying ``available volumes of Libyan hydrocarbons,'' according to the statement, which didn't give further details.

• They also agreed to set up a joint venture to modernize existing oil refineries and build new plants.
• Russia will host a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum later this year.
• Gas Transportation Gazprom also said it received a proposal to help build ``new gas transportation capacity'' from Libya to Europe. ``Libya's traditional customers shouldn't worry,'' Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corp., said in a phone interview.
• Gazprom offered to buy whatever gas or oil that Libya has available for selling, or that has no buyer. It is not offering to take all of Libya's production.''

Libya, Africa's third-largest oil producer, wants to forge new energy partnerships after nearly two decades of international sanctions. The African nation produced 15.2 billion cubic meters of gas last year, piping 9.2 billion to Italy, and pumped 1.85 million barrels of oil a day, according to BP Plc data.

Eni SpA, Italy's largest oil company, has been in Libya since 1959 and has an average daily output of 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent from the nation.

• Supply Accord Eni and Libya last month extended an oil and gas supply agreement for 25 years, after agreeing last October to jointly invest $28 billion over a decade to expand energy production.
• No Eni official could be immediately reached for comment. `

`Nobody needs to worry, not the Americans, not the Italians who have contracts with us,'' Ghanem said. ``We will respect all the contractual terms in all the contracts.'' ``Gazprom is just another customer and they're asking for whatever extra supply we might have. If the price is right, we will sell to them.''

• Gazprom's possible move into Libya may weigh on a U.S. strategy to weaken the Russian company's grip over supplies of gas to Europe.
• The U.S. is trying to line up new gas supplies from friendly governments in Central Asia, such as Azerbaijan, and from Iraq for shipment to Europe via pipelines that skirt Russia.

Bloomberg

RIA Novosti Announces Russia is Trying to Return to Africa

I found this quaint commentary-propaganda piece by RIA Novosti commentator Dina Lyakhovich, dated the 8th of October, 2007. There are others like it out there too. All by the same commentator and agency, trying to convince African countries that AFRICOM is a bad idea (who knows what US intent is) but what I find most interesting is a comment late in the text, and I quote.....

.... "In fact, what the United States wants in Africa is oil, which will soon account for 25% of American oil imports. It needs to protect and guarantee future deliveries, because competition is growing in Africa at breakneck speed. Apart from traditional rivals - France and Britain - it may have to compete with Russia, which is trying to return to Africa."[emphasis added by Shimron]...........

RIA Novositi, the international propaganda news of Putin-controlled Russia, may have made an announcement here.

Look into

Gazprom - is the world's biggest gas exploration and production company Contact: , Phone: (+709) 57 19 30 01, Fax: (+709) 57 19 83 33Moscow, RUSSIA, Europe(North)www.gazprom.ru
Gazflot - russian exploration and ship owning company
Gazprombank - services to enterprises and employees of other sectors (chemical, engineering, defence, nuclear etc.)
Geobyte ltd - geological exploring of resources of potential regions of oil and gas resources and condensate
Lukoil - is Russia's leading oil company
MNP Group incorporates - engaged in shipbuilding, offshore units design and construction.
Morneftegazproekt - provide integrated development of project documentation for offshore field development
Murmansk Shipping Company - crude oil transshipment and icebreaking services in Russian frozen ports and along the Northern Sea Route in Arctic waters
Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition - complex geological and geophysical research in Arctic, the world ocean and Antarctica, in inland reservoirs
Rosneft - russian oil and gas exploration company
Sakhalin Energy - commercially develop, operate and market the hydrocarbon resources
Sea Soft Packages and Tehcnologies Ltd - developing software for realtime video integration with heterogeneous digital data
Sevmorgeo - Marine geological, geophysical and geoecological research of Russian offshore and the world ocean
an
Russian oil expansion activities in Africa have exanded significantly last few years, showing that this announced policy is well under way. But make no mistake, it is Putin himself, not private companies that are directing the activites of these companies. The state has taken over enormous private companies, like Gazprom (oil) and Alrosa (diamonds) and wields them as Arms of Russian government policy. Russia is not alone. In fact China has done he same thing with its largest oil companies, like the Chinese National offshore Oil Company
and Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, but that is a story for another day.

Africa, understand this: when you read any propaganda - US, Russian, Chinese, or Arab states, understand it for what it is, and make the best decisions for all your people.....and make it together, or we will be divided...as we have in the past, by our own choices.

-Shimron Issachar

Leviev Owned Ruiz Diamonds Owns Kristall,

Lev Leviev owned Ruiz Diamonds, which owned Kristall Diamond Cutters, which was taken over by Alrosa, Which was taken over by Putin and Associates....

.....worth Further Investigation

...Shimron

"....In Russia Leviev owns the largest diamond cutting enterprise, "Ruiz Diamonds," which has had the right to purchase twenty percent of Urals diamonds for three years. Leviev partially controls the mining of Urals diamonds and has purchased entirely the Erevan diamond cutting factory "Kristall." Leviev's sphere of interests also extends to the petroleum industry. His funds "Or Ovner" and "Or Chana" finance the "Chabad" in the CIS. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 August 2000) (more)..."

Lukoil and China National Petroleum Corp to Join in Developing 3rd World Oil Reserves

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857), has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Russia's biggest private oil company Lukoil with an emphasis on exploration and production, the two companies said.

Under the agreement, which was signed on Sept 8, the two companies plan to expand their co-operation in existing projects as well as work together on exploration, development and refining projects in third countries.

The two companies each hold a 20 pct stake in an international consortium carrying out geological exploration in Uzbekistan's part of the Aral Sea.

The Rest @ AFX News & ABC Money.uk

Alrosa Hunts Diamonds and Oil in Angola

ALROSA Co. Ltd. was set up under Decree 158C of the President of the Russian Federation 'On the Establishment of the Almazy Rossii-Sakha Joint Stock Company' signed on 19 February 1992. It is Russia's largest diamond company engaged in exploration, mining, manufacture and sales of diamonds and one of the world's major rough diamond producers. ALROSA accounts for about 100% of all rough diamonds produced in Russia and for about 20% of the world's rough diamond output.

• ALROSA, Sonangol (Angolan National Energy Company), and Dark Oil (an Angolan oil company) signed an agreement on prospecting and exploration for oil and gas in the Lower Congo and Upper Kwanza zones, in the basins of the Etosha, Okawango and Kassanje Rivers, and in the shelf zone of Angola.
• The agreement was signed in the Angolan capital Luanda for ALROSA by President of ALROSA Mr. Sergey Vybornov, for Sonangol by President of the Administrative Board of Sonangol Mr. Manuel Vicente, and for Dark Oil by Mr. Fragoso do Nascimento Leopoldino.

Office in Belgium
Lange Herentalsestraat 62/70,
Antwerpen B-2018 Belgium Tel: (323) 234-9084 Fax: (323) 234-2307

Office in Angola
ALROSA-Africa
Rua Coronel Aires de Ornelas, No 1,
R/S Luanda Republica de Angola Tel./Fax: (244) (2) 443900

Office in Israel ALROSA Co. Ltd. (Israel),
Diamond Exchange, Maccabi Bldg. 2342-2344
1 Jabotinsky St. Ramat-Gan 52130, Israel Tel: (972) 3 6128680/1 Fax: (972) 3 6128714

Office in England ARCOS LIMITED,
2nd Floor, 86 Hatton Garden,
London, EC1N 8QQ, UK Tel: (44)207 242 3170 Fax: (44)207 242 3174

Office in Hong Kong ARCOS HONG KONG LTD,
56 Floor, Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road,
Hong Kong Tel: (852)2521 9229 Fax: (852)2521 9239

Office in United Arab Emirates
ARCOS EAST DMCC, Office 19,
Business Avenue Building, Mezzanine Floor,
Port Saeed Road, Deira, Dubai Tel: (971) 4 295 4692 Fax: (971) 4 295 4691

TAMOIL is Oilinvest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Oilinvest trades under the Tamoil brand in several European and African countries, such as at this filling station in Pijnacker in the Netherlands.
Tamoil is a trading name of the Oilinvest B.V. Group, an oil company based in the Netherlands and set up by the Libyan state. Oilinvest's activities under the Tamoil brand, mainly in Europe and Africa, include the supply, trading and refinement of crude oil and the sale of refined oil products. In 2004 Tamoil operated almost 3000 petrol stations in Europe and over 150 in Africa. [1]

from Wikipedia

South Africa's Alrosa, De Beers, Defy European Union Regulation on Diamond Sales in Moscow

Alrosa, the world's second-largest diamond producer, plans to sell 80% of its output in Moscow. De Beers can purchase diamonds there, because the Moscow floor is not subject to European legislation.

Diamond giant De Beers based in South Africa has been Alrosa's main buyer for 50 years, although the European Commission has made two attempts to interfere.First it instructed Alrosa to reduce supplies to De Beers by $75 million annually (from $800 million in 2003 to $275 million by 2010).

In 2005, the European Commission decided that Alrosa should cut deliveries to De Beers from $600 million to $400 million in 2006-2008 reducing them to zero by 2009.At this point the Russian diamond producer decided to revise its sales policy.Alrosa's president, Sergei Vorobyov, did not elaborate when the new floor would start working, but pointed out that a substantial part of diamonds would be sold under long-term contracts.Alrosa will reduce the number of its clients, "keeping only the big ones, whose policy is understandable and who will really support the market," Vybornov said.

He refused to name the potential buyers or their number.Alrosa's constant Russian clients, which annually buy more than $13 million worth of uncut diamonds, are the Smolensk-based Kristall factory, Ruiz Diamonds (which represents the interests of Israeli businessman Lev Leviev), Mosalmaz, and Alpro.

Vybornov said up to 80% of the company's diamonds could be sold in Moscow, with the rest distributed among its foreign offices to monitor the market of one-off sales.The company's top manager said the decision to sell the bulk of its raw materials on one trading floor was logical. De Beers, which has trading sites in Britain and South Africa, is doing the same. Vybornov said Alrosa could do without De Beers, unless it makes gross mistakes in its new sales policy.There are legal ways to give De Beers an opportunity to continue buying Alrosa's diamonds, if it wants to, he said. Russia is not a member of the European Union and the diamond trading floor in Moscow will not be regulated by European legislation, Vybornov said.

These are not neccessarily blood Diamonds. This article serves to illustrate th

The Source @ Sochi2014