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Poor pirates

October 7th 2009 19:00

Oh, well, if you're going to shoot back, we give up!

When Somali pirates in outboard-powered skiffs saw a 160-metre, gun-metal grey ship with some obvious and clearly sophisticated communications gadgetry bolted to its superstructure, they decided it was a cargo ship and approached.

Imagine their surprise when it turned out to be a French naval vessel which, instead of surrendering, returned fire. The pirates fled. The French gave chase.

The pirates threw their guns into the sea and threw their hands into the air.

It's not clear what they teach these days in Somali pirate school, but they need to pay closer attention to the difference between a cargo ship and a war ship.

images: bbc.co.uk, www.glenndefensemarine.com

Note to pirates: this is not a cargo ship

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Africa, Somalia

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A show of sanity

March 8th 2009 00:48

tsvangirai susan morgan zimbabwe politics racism

Susan and Morgan Tsvangirai

The week has had its share of ugliness. On Orble we have confronted the themes of racism and intolerance, and the people who foster it for selfish motives. And yesterday we learned of fresh tragedy in Zimbabwe, with the news that Susan Tsvangirai, wife of the country's face of hope, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has died in car accident.

Mr Tsvangirai and his wife were travelling to a political rally when their vehicle was hit by the trailer of a truck travelling in the opposite direction. Mrs Tsvangirai, who was on the side of the car hit by the trailer, was killed. Mr Tsvangirai was "slightly hurt".

They had been married 33 years and had six children. Mrs Tsvangirai was not politically active but was constantly seen by her husband's side at public functions and has been described as his pillar of strength and the "mother of the party".

Foul play is suspected. If Robert Mugabe, who recently agreed to a power-sharing arrangement with Mr Tsvangirai after failing to hold power in a national election which he turned into a farce, is not behind the death of Susan Tsvangirai, it would be a surprise. And, in a grimly ironic way, it would make little difference. Mugabe's long history of murder and torture is indisputable.

This morning, as I am still digesting all this, my wife is preparing to do something which should be ordinary but which suddenly seems extraordinary.

She and a substantial number of other people are going to spend all day rehearsing for a performance this evening of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Gondoliers. The rehearsal today will be the only rehearsal, meaning a lot of people, some of whom know the music and some of whom do not, will be gathering to sing and learn and prepare, all in a few hours, for a full-scale operatic performance this evening.

It's a fairly new concept but a popular one. An orchestra and some professionals who will sing the major roles will come for the performance, as will an audience which will have moderate expectations of the quality and high expectations of the fun factor.

All these people choosing to spend a healthy slice of their weekend leisure time trying to learn a major musical work which they will then perform passably at best strikes me as utterly, beautifully, wonderfully, comfortingly sane.

It will be hard work, but I have no doubt that when my wife arrives home late tonight, exhausted after the mental and physical strain of her extraordinary day, she will have a smile a mile wide.

The honest pleasure of real life. If only Robert Mugabe understood what he is missing.
bbc.co.uk, news.com.au; image: Agence France Presse

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Africa, Zimbabwe

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Darfur doublespeak

July 13th 2008 00:57

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashri - to be indicted for war crimes

Photo: Rebecca Blackwell, Associated Press

Spike the bastard

An indictment of Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur would be "disastrous" for the region and could affect humanitarian organisations working there.

Says who? Says Mahjoub Fadul Badry, who was speaking to the Arabiyah news channel, which described him as a Sudanese government spokesman.

Badry added that the indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to be sought tomorrow (July 14) by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, would be a violation of the country's sovereignty and would have "consequences".

While International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has not yet named names, he has clearly indicated that he is aiming for the top leadership of the Sudanese government. Moreno-Ocampo has accused them of sponsoring the janjaweed militias who have unleashed a reign of terror on the country's Darfur region, where an estimated 300,000 people have died since the conflict began in early 2003.

The Badry quotes were picked up by other news services, and an Associated Press version of the story made it to the top of the Google news list when I opened up Google's international news page a little while ago.

This is not news, at least not prominent news, and it is interesting to see that it's a distinction which eludes Google's automated everything. If the item had come across the desk of a newspaper veteran, she would have sent it straight to the rubbish bin, before pausing at the last second and redirecting it to the editorial writer.

Who, if it was a slow news day, might have used it to reinforce the message that the Badry quotes contain the threats, the dishonesty and the self-serving obfuscation which has created the situation we have today.

Threatening to interfere with the work of humanitarian agencies there shows just how low the Sudanese government will go. You touch us, they are effectively saying, and the people of Darfur will pay! Then again, blustering and stone-hearted posturing is about all they have left.

Newspapers have gone electronic and the copy editors no longer have a spike at hand for the discarded stories. Pity. It's what President Omar al-Bashir firmly deserves.

Sources: AP, Arabiyah

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Africa, Sudan

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