Israeli security guards working for an Italian cruise line repulsed six pirates who tried to board a passenger liner April 25 in the Indian Ocean, near the Seychelles—some 600 miles from Somalia. The guards aboard the MSC Melody used pistols and firehouses to beat back the pirates, who sprayed the ship with some 200 rounds of ammunition. The ship carried 991 passengers and 536 crew, en route from Durbin, South Africa to Aqaba, Jordan. An MSC cruise line official told Reuters, "We use [Israeli security guards] because they are the best—and we've just had a demonstration of that." (Jewish Week, April 29)

From the Mauritanian Organization for Peace and Justice, April 24:

Members of the Mauritanian community and the undersigned organizations hereby call on the United Nations Security Council and the Obama administration to name an independent international commission to investigate atrocities committed during the regime of Maouya Ould Taya (1986-1992).

A Sudanese court sentenced 11 members of Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to death by hanging April 22 in relation to last year's attack on Khartoum. As the sentence was read, the defendants yelled slogans, decrying what they said was an injustice and expressing support for JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim. Five other defendants were acquitted. (AlJazeera, April 24)

Kenyan prosecutors brought piracy charges April 23 against 18 Somali nationals who were captured at sea by European naval forces over the past two months and handed over to Nairobi. The suspects were captured by French and German forces off the Somali coast, where they allegedly attacked several merchant ships in the area. The European Union and Kenya have reached an agreement that allows EU navies to apprehend alleged pirates and turn them over to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.

A Rwandan court rejected a lawsuit brought by captured Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Laurent Nkunda seeking his release from Rwandan custody. Nkunda was apprehended by Rwandan authorities in January near the DRC border after a joint DRC-Rwandan military operation to capture him and root out Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in the DRC. He is the leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a rebel group operating in the eastern DRC province of Nord-Kivu. According to Nkunda's lawyer, he is being held illegallywithout charges or access to counsel. Nkunda faces an uncertain legal future, with the DRC government having called on Rwanda to extradite him to face charges for atrocities committed by forces under his command.

At least seven were killed and 15 wounded in southern Somalia after Shabaab insurgents attacked a clan militia base in the outskirts of Kismayo. The fighting erupted late April 20 and continued into the following morning, in a town called Bulo Haji, some 90 kilometers southwest of Kismayo, a strategic port city and the capital of Lower Jubba region.

The Somali parliament voted April 18 to adopt Islamic sharia law. A parliamentary spokesperson said that more than 300 Somali MPs voted for the implementation of sharia as part of an attempt by Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to bring stability to the "failed state." Last month, Ahmed announced that he would support the imposition of a moderate form of sharia as part of a cease-fire agreement with the country's Hizb al-Islamiya and al-Shabaab rebels.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a new US initiative April 15 to battle piracy off Somalia, and said she has formed a diplomatic team to press Somali leaders "to take action against pirates operating from bases within their territories." She added: "These pirates are criminals. They are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting attacks must be stopped."