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Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Thursday that a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer might be sent off Somalia to protect Japanese ships from pirates.
The government has never attempted to dispatch a military vessel overseas for policing activities under the Self-Defense Forces Law, and government sources said that, given the strong reservations about the idea, the [...]

Somalia’s president has appointed a new prime minister, ignoring the parliament’s vote in favour of keeping Nur Hassan Hussein, the current premier.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the Somali president, appointed Mohamed Mohamoud Guled, his close ally and a former interior minister, on Tuesday to replace Hussein.
“The country was not having a functioning government and this is why [...]

Somali pirates who hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned supertanker, are demanding $25m for the ship’s return, according to Mohamed Said, one of the pirates.
“We are demanding $25m from the Saudi owners of the tanker. We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter,” he said on Thursday.
“The Saudis have 10 days to comply, [...]

The US navy says Somali pirates have hijacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker off the Kenyan coast.
Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, said the pirates hijacked the vessel on Saturday.
The tanker is owned by Saudi oil company Aramco and was sailing under a Liberian flag.
[Source]

Five suspected suicide bombers have attacked targets in Puntland and Somaliland, autonomous regions in northern Somalia, killing up to 14 people and leaving several wounded, officials say.
In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, three suspected suicide bombings struck several targets including the presidential palace, killing at least 14 people.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from Nairobi where [...]

A meeting of East African leaders is about to begin in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss a potential new peace deal for Somalia, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports.
The meeting is being hosted by the regional body, Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
It follows a UN deal, brokered on Sunday, between the interim Somali government and an opposition [...]

The death toll in southern Somalia has risen to 70 with scores more wounded after three days of fighting in which an armed opposition group is reported to have taken control of the southern port of Kismayu.
At least 13 people were killed in clashes in Kismayu on Friday between a local clan militia and al-Shabab, [...]

An airstrike has killed two senior leaders of Somalia’s Islamist opposition militia.
Reuters news agency said four aircraft dropped bombs on a house early on Thursday morning, killing the two leaders and 17 other people.
There was no confirmation of who carried out the attack, though some sources said the US carried out the strike.
One of those [...]

Hundreds of people have fled Mogadishu after heavy clashes between anti-government fighters and Somali and Ethiopian troops reportedly killed more than 80 people over the weekend.
The Somali capital was largely quiet on Monday as residents ventured out onto the streets to collect the bodies of the dead or escape the city.
[Source]

At least 81 people have been killed in the Somali capital over the weekend as fighters opposed to the transitional government clashed with Somali and Ethiopian troops, according to a human rights group.
The two sides exchanged mortar fire on Sunday, in what residents of Mogadishu said was some of the heaviest fighting in months.
[Source]