フーシ派、拿捕船で「見学ツアー」催行

【ホデイダ（イエメン）ＡＦＰ＝時事】イエメンの親イラン武装組織フーシ派が紅海で、日本企業がチャーターし運航していた船を拿捕（だほ）してから２か月余りが経過した。フーシ派は現在、同船で「見学ツアー」を催し、希望者に船内の様子を公開している。（写真はイエメンの反政府勢力フーシ派が観光客に公開している自動車運搬船「ギャラクシー・リーダー」）
　フーシ派は自動車運搬船「ギャラクシー・リーダー」を、パレスチナ人に連帯を示す戦いにおける戦利品と位置付けている。
　１グループ当たり１ドル（約１５０円）を支払うと、木造船でギャラクシー・リーダーへと案内され、内部も見学できる。参加者は男性のみに限られ、週に５回公開されている。
　パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区での衝突開始直後から、フーシ派は紅海を通過する、イスラエルと関係があると見なした船舶を相次いでミサイルやドローンで攻撃。これを受けて米主導の有志連合が警戒監視に乗り出し、また米英軍はフーシ派の軍事拠点を攻撃した。
　こうした反応があっても、拿捕船見学ツアーのムードに大きな変化はない。同船は現在、イエメンやパレスチナの旗のほか、反米・反イスラエル的なスローガンが書かれた旗で飾られている。
　フーシ派の支配下にある首都サヌアから来たという見学者は、「（フーシ派の）部隊が、抑圧されているパレスチナとガザの兄弟たちへの支持を表明してこの偉業を成し遂げたことは誇りであり名誉だ」と話した。
　ギャラクシー・リーダーは、イスラエル人実業家が所有する英企業の船で、昨年１１月に拿捕された際には日本郵船が運航していた。乗組員２５人の出身国はブルガリア、フィリピン、ウクライナ、メキシコで、安否は依然不明だ。
　ＡＦＰが見学者に取材したところ、乗組員の姿を見たと語った人はいなかった。
　照り付ける太陽の下、船上で１時間ほど過ごした見学者の一行は「神は偉大なり、アメリカに死を、イスラエルに死を」と声を上げながら岸へ戻って行った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/02/06-18:28）

More than two months after Yemen's Huthi rebels captured the Galaxy Leader cargo ship and detained its crew, the Iran-backed rebels have turned the vessel into a domestic tourist attraction.
For about a dollar per trip, male-only groups of visitors can board wooden boats five times a week to the hijacked car carrier, which the Huthis hail as a trophy in their fight in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Since shortly after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza broke out on October 7, the Huthis have launched a spate of missile and drone attacks on passing commercial ships which they say are linked to Israel.
A US-led naval coalition has responded by patrolling the Red Sea, and US and British forces have struck military sites of the Huthis, now designated a global terrorist group by Washington, to keep open the vital shipping lane.
This has done little to dampen the mood on the sightseeing trips to the seized vessel, which is now decorated with Yemeni and Palestinian flags and banners displaying anti-American and anti-Israel slogans.
On a recent visit, Zubair al-Haidari, from the Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa, said he had travelled for five hours to see the Israeli ship anchored off Hodeida on the Red Sea coast.
It is our pride and honour... that our armed forces have accomplished this wonderful work in supporting our oppressed brothers in Palestine and in Gaza, he told AFP.
He was among some 10 visitors taking pictures with their mobile phones as they chewed khat, a plant that generates a mild high and is widely consumed in the Arabian peninsula's poorest country.
On board the ship, some visitors performed a traditional dance featuring the daggers that many Yemenis carry tucked into their belts, accompanied by chants glorifying the Huthis.
On the deck of the Galaxy Leader, none of the visitors interviewed by AFP said they had seen the 25 crew members who are Bulgarian, Filipino, Ukrainian and Mexican and whose fate remains unknown.
- 'Source of pride' -
The Galaxy Leader is owned by a British company, which is in turn owned by an Israeli businessman.
It had been chartered by a Japanese company when it was captured on November 19 by the Huthis, who said they were acting in solidarity with people in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israel's military campaign was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Militants also seized around 250 hostages.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and Gaza's health ministry says the military offensive has killed at least 26,257 people, about 70 percent of them women and children.
Amid the Gaza war, the Huthis have launched numerous attacks against shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, threatening an essential global trade route.
Hizam al-Assad, of the Huthi political bureau, referred to the Galaxy Leader as a tourist attraction and said the visitors were proof that the Yemeni people... are impatient to meet the enemy and confront him.
Another visitor, Hamada al-Baydani, said he had travelled 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Al-Bayda, to see the seized ship, which he labelled a source of pride for Yemenis.
Several days after detaining the vessel, the Huthis published a video showing a military general welcoming a group they said was the crew, but the militants have not provided any information on their fate since.
After an hour on board under the scorching sun, the visitors made their way back home, chanting God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel.