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Mittwoch, 10. Oktober 2012

After a week as a ‘hostage’, Ghana decides if it will release the Frigate Libertad

El Cronista
After a week as a ‘hostage’, Ghana decides if it will release the Frigate Libertad
 
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
 
Tomorrow the Frigate Libertad could set sail again, after more than a week moored in Accra, the capital of Ghana, over a complaint from a creditor fund of Argentine bonds in default.
 
The Superior Court of Accra will decide tomorrow whether or not to release the teaching vessel of the Argentine navy, which has been held in the port of Tema, close to Accra, since Tuesday, October 2, based on a complaint from the vulture fund NML Capital Limited, which demands payment on sovereign bonds owed since the default of 2001.
 
The Ghana court set the date yesterday after hearing arguments from representatives of the vulture fund NML Capital and the Argentine government.
 
The attorney that represents Argentina, Larry Otoo, said that the frigate Libertad is a military ship which, according to Ghana laws, enjoys diplomatic immunity and should not be held.  According to Otoo, the frigate docked at the port of Tema, some 25 km from Accra, by invitation of the government of Ghana and carries 200 crew members on board, including persons of South African, Namibian and Moroccan citizenship.  For that, he asked the court to authorize the continuation of the frigate’s trip, according to the EFE agency.
 
For his part, NML Capital Limited’s representative, attorney Ace Ankomah, rejected Otoo’s petition, saying that Argentina has the ability to honor its economic obligations.  “Argentina’s international reserves, or its foreign currency liquidity, as of the month of August was US$45 billion,” Ankomah argued.  And he pointed out that if the Argentine frigate abandons the coast of Ghana, it’s possible that his client will never receive payment on the debt.  Also, the lawyer for the NML Capital fund put in doubt that the ship was invited by the government of Ghana, which has not yet provided the court any document that credits this, and he said that, while war ships enjoy immunity, this has no reason why to apply it if there are contracts of means.  “While the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes immunity of war ships, that recognition is based on rules and principles of customary international law, which allows for that immunity to be withdrawn,” Ankomah argued.
 
Watching the hearing yesterday were Argentina’s ambassador to Nigeria, María Susana Pataro, who also handles Ghana, and has taken up the case on the diplomatic level.
 
NML is seeking to collect on rulings for the investment fund for US$1.6 billion in bonds declared in default in the 2001 crisis, which were obtained in its favor in New York and London; according to what has been reported, it belongs to multimillionaire Paul Singer, one of the largest contributors to the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the United States.
 
Between 2005 and 2010, Argentina refinanced and normalized 93% of that debt with creditors, for almost US$100 billion, but remaining are a group of bonds in the hands of speculative funds that bet on recovering 100% plus interest through court litigation.
 
After the retention of the frigate, the Argentine government said in a statement that NML’s legal action constitutes “a devious attack by the vulture funds against Argentina” that “violates the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity.”
 
The ship sailed from the port of Buenos Aires on June 2 to hold its traditional graduation voyage of the navy that includes, for the first time, the countries of Ghana, Angola and Namibia.  It was scheduled to arrive in Luanda on the 11th of this month, and then continue on to Namibia, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.
 
 
Clarin
Tomorrow the fate of the Frigate Libertad is decided in Ghana
 
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
 
By Ana Baron
 
(WASHINGTON) Tomorrow, the Superior Court of Ghana should decide if it will release the Frigate Libertad – held in the port of Tema – as the Argentine government requested yesterday or if, on the contrary, it will demand a bail payment.  A source told Clarin that, in latter case, if Argentina refuses to pay bail the frigate could end up being held for up to three years. 
 
The frigate was detained in Ghana over a claim filed by NML, a vulture funds that is seeking to collect on rulings it obtained in its favor in the courts of New York and London for almost US$1.6 billion.
 
According to what this newspaper could find out, during the hearing that took place yesterday in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Larry Otoo, the attorney representing Argentina, said that the frigate is a military ship which under the laws of Ghana enjoys diplomatic immunity and that, as such, must be released.
 
In his presentation, Otoo said that the Libertad arrived in the port of Tema with a crew of 200 men and women, invited by the government of Ghana.  He explained that due to the detention of the ship, representatives of the Ghana navy could not participate in the training that was scheduled and that places the government of Ghana in distress.  In that context, he urged the court to release the ship.
 
On the sidewalk in front of the court, the attorney for NML, Ace Ankomah, said that while the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes the immunity of war ships, that recognition is based on principles of international law that allow immunity to be lifted in some cases.  Ankomah accused Argentina of not paying its debts, despite it having the means to do so. 
 
The attention is centered on the hearing.  The judge will have to determine who is right on the issue of diplomatic immunity.  If he rules in favor of Argentina, the frigate will be released immediately.  And if he determines it does not have immunity, he will fix a bail of up to US$10 million.  If Argentina doesn’t pay, the Frigate Libertad could spend three years detained in the port of Tema.
 
 
New York Post
 
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
 
By Kaja Whitehouse
 
They’d rather walk the plank than contribute to this pirate’s booty.
 
A Ghana court yesterday was told Argentina will not fork over $20 million to New York hedge-fund honcho Paul Singer to free up the three-masted tall ship the billionaire seized last week.
 
At a court hearing in the West African nation — where the Argentine naval vessel ARA Libertad was detained — a lawyer for the South American country argued that Singer had no right to hold the ship because it’s a military vessel and therefore protected by sovereign immunity, sources told The Post.
 
 
The New York Observer
 
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
 
By Patrick Clark
 
A lawyer for the Argentina navy told a court in Ghana it would not pay Elliott Management $20 million for the release of the ARA Libertad, a training vessel used by the South American country’s navy. Elliott, the hedge fund managed by Paul Singer, seized the sailing ship last week in attempt to make good on defaulted Argentinean debt. Argentina said the ship couldn’t be seized because it was a military vessel, according to The New York Post.
 
Goldman Sachs is lobbying the government to exempt investment vehicles known as credit funds from the Volcker rule, The Journal reports. If lobbying fails, the firm may be preparing for a game of a “Whac-A-Mole” as it devises strategies to dodge regulators.
 
An oil discovery in the Celtic Sea may offer salvation for the Irish economy!
 
 
New York Post
 
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
 
By Kaja Whitehouse
 
Argentina is refusing to pay the $20 million in ransom that New York hedge fund honcho Paul Singer is demanding in exchange for releasing the country’s premier naval vessel.
 
At a court hearing today in Ghana, where Singer’s lawyers are holding the ARA Libertad hostage, a lawyer for Argentina argued that Singer had no right to detain the ship because it’s a military vessel and immune from seizure.
 
Lawyer Larry Otoo called the seizure — a move by Singer to force Argentina to repay a $1.6 billion debt he says he’s owed — an embarrassment to Ghana and demanded the ship’s immediate return.
 
 
Vibe Ghana
 
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
 
An Accra Fast Track will on October 11, deliver its ruling on whether or not to set aside its orders that restrained an Argentine Naval Ship from moving or bunkering until further notice.
 
This was after it had listened to arguments from counsel representing the NML Capital Limited, a subsidiary of Elliot Management, a New York-based investment fund engaged in the investment of pension funds, and the Republic of Argentina.
 
NML Capital Limited on October 2 went to the Commercial Division of the Fast Track High Court to obtain an interim injunction against the Argentine vessel known as ARA Libertad, currently in Ghana, with about 200 men on board.
 
 
Vanguard
 
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
 
ACCRA (AFP) – A Ghana court will on Thursday decide whether to release one of Argentina’s warships detained in a port in the West African nation over a debt dispute, the judge in the case said.
 
Argentina on Tuesday argued before the Accra Commercial Court for the release of the frigate, saying the vessel with 200 crew seized after an October 2 order enjoyed diplomatic immunity. It had arrived in Ghana for a training mission.
 
“It is quite clear that ARS Libertad is a military ship and it is immune from attachment to any judgment in this country,” Larry Otu, the lawyer representing the Argentine government, told the court.
 

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