Peter Leftie
13 June 2011
Nairobi — The Sh300 million ransom intercepted at Mogadishu airport two weeks ago will be forfeited to the Somali government.
The head of the Somalia Anti-Piracy Task Force, Prof Muhyadin Ali Yusuf, said the Somali government was treating the six people arrested during the incident as piracy masterminds. They include two Kenyans, three Britons and an American.
The money was being taken to Somali pirates as ransom.
“Investigations are still going on before we decide what to do with the suspects but our initial findings show they have been behind piracy incidents on the Somali coast,” he said.
Prof Yusuf said in an interview with the Nation in Mogadishu that the fate of the six, and that of the two planes will be known after investigations have been completed. One of the planes operates from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport.
The six are still detained at the Aden Abdulle International Airport police station in Mogadishu.
“Please get us out of here at whatever cost, it has been two weeks now. We have families,” said one of the two pilots during an interview with Nation this week.
About 500 metres away, the two light planes remain grounded on the runway under tight guard from the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) forces and Somali security officials.
Prof Yusuf said one of the planes flew into Mogadishu from Nairobi on the morning of May 24, with three men, including the pilot, the co-pilot and one passenger while the second plane came from the Seychelles the same morning.
“The second one is the one which was carrying the money,” Prof Yusuf said.
He said one of the planes, registration number 5Y-BYD belongs to Phoenix Aviation based at the Wilson Airport but the ownership of the second plane, 5Y-MJA, is yet to be established.
Nation investigations showed the occupants of the plane from the Seychelles had earlier picked up the ransom money from a contact in Hong Kong and planned to drop it to pirates on the hijacked ships.
Prof Yusuf said the matter was being handled at the highest levels of the Somali Transitional Federal Government.
Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo” told the Nation that investigations were still ongoing.
“I cannot say much at the moment,” the PM said.
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Country to Keep Millions in Ransom Cash