United States Navy, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
This is about Somali pirates hijacking a "Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition".
Quote from nytimes.com:
"He insisted that the pirates were not interested in the weapons and had no plans to sell them to Islamist insurgents battling Somalia’s weak transitional government. “Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons,” he said. “We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.”
He said the pirates were asking for $20 million in cash; “we don’t use any other system than cash.” But he added that they were willing to bargain. “That’s deal-making,” he explained.
Piracy in Somalia is a highly organized, lucrative, ransom-driven business. Just this year, pirates hijacked more than 25 ships..."--
Firstly, this isn't a really good time to be asking for ransom money now is it? (Hint: Post- financial crisis)
Secondly, if the pirates don't get $20 million, they might bargain for $10 million. I guess even pirates feel the pinch from the results of the financial crisis.
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