Two days after the Indian Navy was compelled to repulse pirate attacks on a Saudi and an Indian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, India has put forward a proposal asking for a ‘unified command’ UN peace-keeping force under, in order to prevent the increasing number of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia.
Mogadishu - Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab has taken over the port town of Merka, 90 kilometres southwest of the capital Mogadishu, after government forces abandoned their posts overnight, residents said Wednesday.
"Heavily armed Islamists entered Merka without any resistance," Aweys Dahir, a resident in Merka, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone. "They have already set up two bases in town and are patrolling the streets."
The fighters also took over two other towns in the region.
Nairobi- Somali pirates on Monday seized a Philippine- flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden as the European Union agreed to send a fleet of anti-piracy frigates to the region, a maritime official said Tuesday.
Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said that the Stolt Strength was hijacked on Monday along with its 23 Filipino crew.
The Stolt Strength's sister ship, the Stolt Valor, was also seized in the Gulf of Aden two months ago.
Copenhagen - A Danish freighter and its crew of 13 have been abducted by pirates off the coast of Somalia, reported a maritime official Saturday.
The Friday afternoon attack on the CEC Future, a ship registered in the Bahamas and owned by the Clipper Elite Carrier shipping company, occurred in the Gulf of Aden when there were no other nearby ships which could come to the CEC Future's aid.
There were not believed to be any Danes among the crew. The Danish maritime official said that the shipping company would be responsible for any negotiations with the pirates or ransom payments.
Nairobi - More than 200 Somalian parliamentarians have found themselves stranded in Nairobi, lacking the money to pay for air tickets for their return home, BBC reported Friday.
Citing a spokesman for the parliamentarians, who had attended an international conference in the Kenyan capital, BBC said that the UN Development Program (UNDP) on Thursday did pay the fares of 27 stranded delegates for a flight back to Mogadishu.
Two days after the Indian Navy was compelled to repulse pirate attacks on a Saudi and an Indian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, India has put forward a proposal asking for a ‘unified command’ UN peace-keeping force under, in order to prevent the increasing number of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia. 
Dhabi, 13th Nov. 2008 -- H. H.
Mogadishu - Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab has taken over the port town of Merka, 90 kilometres southwest of the capital Mogadishu, after government forces abandoned their posts overnight, residents said Wednesday.
Nairobi- Somali pirates on Monday seized a Philippine- flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden as the European Union agreed to send a fleet of anti-piracy frigates to the region, a maritime official said Tuesday.
Copenhagen - A Danish freighter and its crew of 13 have been abducted by pirates off the coast of Somalia, reported a maritime official Saturday.
Nairobi - More than 200 Somalian parliamentarians have found themselves stranded in Nairobi, lacking the money to pay for air tickets for their return home, BBC reported Friday.
