By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

 SA’NA, Yemen – Pirates seized a ship with 24 crew members off the port of Aden on Monday and Mogadishu traders said seven additional vessels headed for the Somali capital had been hijacked over the past two days.

The Kenyan-based Ecoterra maritime monitoring agency said pirates had taken control of a roll-on, roll-off ship called the MV Iceberg 1 on Monday.” The owners reported to NATO that pirates boarded the ro-ro vessel MV Iceberg 1 today just 10 miles outside Aden Port in the Gulf of Aden,” Ecoterra said. “The vessel with her 24 member crew is now commandeered toward the Somali coast.”

The EU Naval Force Spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour says the Monday attack took place 10 miles from Yemen against the Panama-flagged Iceberg I. Harbour says the pirates then sailed the ship across the Gulf of Aden toward Somalia. Harbour says the last communication from the vessel was a mayday call from the captain saying pirates were boarding the vessel. The 24 crew came from Yemen, India, Ghana, Sudan, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Sea gangs have acquired millions of dollars in ransoms and defied a flotilla of foreign warships that are trying to monitor the region’s busy sea lanes.

They have plagued the busy shipping lanes off Somalia for years. As well as holding some ships for ransom, pirates also hijack vessels to use as ‘motherships’ which ferry the gunmen and their speedboats far out to sea.

The seven ships cited by the traders did not include a Seychelles fishing vessel and an Iranian boat that were also taken in the waters off east Africa but later freed, according to the Seychelles coast guard. The Seychelles president’s office said the fishing vessel, called the Galate, was captured 90 miles off the coast of the archipelago’s main island before later being freed. All six crew members were safe.

Seychelles said its coast guard had also rescued 21 crew from the Iranian boat in the same operation. Separately, the U.S. destroyer McFaul rescued 30 Africans stranded in the Gulf of Aden after their vessel developed engine problems, the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Last year 50,000 people, many from Somalia, took rickety smugglers’ ships across the Gulf of Aden, seeking jobs in the Middle East or fleeing political turmoil at home. “The 30 men, women and children onboard had been stranded with no food and very little water for nearly four days since departing the Somali coast,” the Navy said.

For more information, please see:

AP – Somali Pirates Hijack Ship, 24 Crew Near Yemen – March 29 2010

VOA News – Somali Pirates Hijack Merchant Ship With 24 Crew – March 29 2010

Reuters – Pirates Seize Somalia-Bound Ships, Others Rescued – March 29 2010

Xinhuanet – Yemeni Fishing Vessel Hijacked By Somali Pirates: Report – March 29 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Israeli police detained several Palestinians on Palm Sunday, March 28. The Palestinians were protesting Israeli restrictions on Palestinian Christians, not allowing them to celebrate Holy Week and Easter religious observations in Jerusalem. It is unclear exactly how many Palestinians were arrested, reports range from eleven to fifteen protestors detained. The Palestinian News Network reports that an Associated Press photographer was also arrested.

The protests were held on Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Christian Holy Week, remembering the death of Jesus and ending the following Sunday with the celebration of Easter. While Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Christians follow different ecclesiastical calendars, this year, the calendars have aligned and all Christians will be observing Holy Week and Easter at the same time.

Between one hundred and two hundred Palestinians began the day’s protests after Sunday prayers and morning services at the Church of the Nativity. The protestors reached Gilo, the checkpoint through which Palestinians may enter Jerusalem only after receiving Israeli permission. The protestors gave speeches, and several of the protestors reportedly made it through the checkpoint without permission. One report said that at this point the border guards began an “unprovoked” attack on the protestors, and arrested several protestors.

Regardless of the exact details, many Palestinian Christians viewed the protest as a remembrance and a witness for Palestinian Christians. The Palestinian Christian population, primarily Greek Orthodox, has steadily dwindled in recent years, as many choose or are forced to emigrate. Approximately 50,000 Palestinian Christians live in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, or East Jerusalem, while there are four million Muslim Palestinians in these same areas. Another 123,000 Palestinian Christians live in Israel, making up about eight percent of the Arab Israeli population.

The protest was the latest in a series of Palestinian protests in opposition to the Israeli government’s plans to allow Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is predominantly Palestinian, and Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israelis insist that Jerusalem is their undivided capital.

For more information, please see:

Palestinian News Network – 15 Arrested During a Non-Violence Demonstration on Palm Sunday – 29 March 2010

The Associated Press – Christian Pilgrims Mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem – 28 March 2010

Ha’aretz – Christian Pilgrims Flock to Jerusalem to Mark Palm Sunday – 28 March 2010

Ma’an News Agency – Palm Sunday Detainees Still in Israeli Custody – 28 March 2010

Ynet News – Palestinians, Leftists Detained for Entering Israel Illegally During March – 28 March 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– In remarks issued on Friday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that the continued presence of Hezbollah’s weapons in Lebanon threatens to undermine any progress made by Israel and Lebanon in the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.  Ban told reporters “I am worried about Hezbollah’s possession of arms.  I hope this will be resolved.”

Resolution 1701 was drafted in 2006 shortly after Israel’s July-August war against Lebanon.  The resolution stipulates that there are to be no arms within Lebanon outside of state control.  Despite the resolution, the U.N. has repeatedly stated that Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets constitutes a serious violation of international law.

In a recent report on the implementation of the 1701 Resolution, Ban said that greater enforcement action was necessary to curb the flow of arms into Lebanon across its porous borders with Syria.  In his Friday interview, Ban stressed the importance of strict border enforcement by saying that “There is arms smuggling into the Lebanese territories and this should be stopped through patrolling the Syrian-Lebanese borders.  I have called on the Lebanese and Syrian authorities to resolve this issue through appointing a committee tasked with monitoring the borders.  I know borders are being breached and they should be watched.”

During his remarks, Ban also addressed Israeli violations of the resolution, including repeated incursions by Israeli forces into Lebanese territory.  Ban added, “There is another issue, having to do with continuous Israeli flights in Lebanese airspace, which hinders the work of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in addition to violating Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

The National News Agency in Lebanon reported on Thursday that a team of Israeli soldiers crossed a fence between Israel and Lebanon and planted espionage devices in the vicinity of Wazzani, a move that prompted the UNIFIL to be put on high alert.  In a statement released by the Presidential Palace in Baabda, a presidential spokesperson commented that “The crossing by Israeli enemy forces of the technical fence represents new, flagrant evidence of Israel’s continuing violation of Resolution 1701 and reveals its aggressive intentions in direct fashion, frustrating the orientations of the international community.”

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star- Ban Worried Over Hezbollah Arms, Sleiman Raps Israeli Breaches– 27 March 2010

NOW Lebanon- National Dialogue Will Consider Resistance’s Arms a Guarantee for Lebanon– 27 March 2010

United Press International- Hezbollah Arms a Deterrent, Officials Say– 23 March 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On March 21, Iranian authorities arrested the grandson of former Iranian President, Akbar Hashemi Rafasnjani, as he attempted to enter the country. Hassan Lahouti, 23, was arrested as he arrived in Iran. Rafsanjani currently holds a number of powerful positions within Iran’s government, but backed a reformist candidate in the 2009 election. The election was controversy filled and led to protests as opposition supporters contended that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection was the result of voter fraud.

Lahouti was returning from London when he was arrested at the Tehran airport. Lahouti had left Iran for London, where he keeps his permanent residence, ten days prior to the protests that followed the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election. Lahouti, according to the opposition website Rahesabz.com, was taken to Evin prison in Tehran on the orders of a judge.

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi explained the charges against Lahouti to the Fars news agency. Dolatabadi said that the for President’s grandson was arrested “on orders from the judiciary on suspicion of committing some security crimes.” Rahesabz.net reports that Lahouti was actually arrested for “insulting the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei). The website alleged that telephone conversations Lohouti had from London was listened to by Iranian security forces. During one of these conversations, according to the website, Lahouti insulted the Supreme Leader of Iran. Insulting government officials can incur a jail sentence.

Lahouti was released from Evin prison on March 22 after posting seventy three thousand dollars in bail. Dolatabadi explained that the former president’s grandson’s case was sent to court for further investigation

Lahouti’s mother, Faezeh Hashemi, was herself briefly detained after opposition protests began in June 2009. Hashemi, the daughter of Rafsanjani, has been accused of being involved in the incitement of officials.

Former President Rafsanjani was President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1989 to 1997. He currently leads both the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to replace Khamenei, and the Expediency Council, which serves as the arbitration body. Rafsanjani has been a fierce critic of Ahmadinejad and backed opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi in his bid to unseat Ahmadinejad in the 2009 election.

For more information, please see:

AFP –  Iran bails Ex-president Rafsanjani’s Grandson Prosecutor – 23 March 2010

Al Jazeera – Iran’s Ex-leader’s Grandson Arrested – 23 March 2010

BBC – Grandson of Iranian President Rafsanjani Held – 22 March 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – More than 100 suspected militants linked to Al-Qaeda have been arrested in Saudi Arabia, officials have said.

A statement from the ministry on Wednesday said the suspects were plotting attacks on oil and security installations in the kingdom. One cell consisted of 101 people, and two smaller cells were made up of six men each, it said.

The large cell comprised 47 Saudis and 51 Yemenis, as well as a Somali, a Bangladeshi and an Eritrean, the statement read out on state television said. The two smaller groups were made up of 11 Saudis and a Yemeni, who security officials described as being a prominent member of al-Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia stepped up its anti-terrorism fight against Al-Qaeda in 2004 after militants struck an oil installation and stormed a housing complex in the Persian Gulf city of Al-Khobar, killing 22 foreign workers. Those attacks were seen as an effort to destabilize the ruling al-Saud family.

The Interior Ministry said the new arrests followed an investigation in the wake of an incident in October in which two suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in a gunfight after entering the kingdom from Yemen.

The threat from Yemen has gained global attention since the terrorist group’s local branch claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25 plot in which Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight with 278 passengers as it approached Detroit.

Al-Qaeda’s Saudi and Yemeni branches merged in January last year after the Saudi crackdown forced militants to flee. Saudi Arabia shares a 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) border with Yemen, the poorest Arab nation.

Riyadh is especially concerned about the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen. In September, Michael Leiter, the director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), said the AQAP had gained a dangerous foothold in Yemen.

“We have witnessed the re-emergence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen as a key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which al-Qaeda can plan attacks, train recruits and facilitate the movement of operatives,” Leiter said

For more information, please see:

 Al-Jazeera – Saudi ‘Al-Qaeda Suspects’ Arrested – 25 March 2010

BusinessWeek – Saudi Arabia Busts ‘Terror Cells’ Plotting Oil Attack – 25 March 2010

BBC News – Saudi Arabia Detains Dozens of ‘Al-Qaeda Militants’ – 24 March 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Saudi Arabia Announces Arrest of 110 Al-Qaeda Suspects – 24 March 2010