Ask AP: Somali pirates, disabled presidents-elect

They come from a failed state whose people are desperately poor. So how have Somali pirates managed to take control of large commercial ships and hold them for days, even weeks?

A reader's curiosity about the pirates' tactics inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

(enlarge photo) In this Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 file photo released by U.S. Navy, Somali pirates in small boats are seen alongside the hijacked ship 'Faina'. A reader-submitted question about the Somali pirates is being answered as part of an Associated Press Q&A column called 'Ask AP'. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

___

In the upcoming presidential election, what would happen if the elected candidate were to die — or otherwise become unable to serve — before the inauguration in January?

Herb Smith

Montreat, N.C.

___

The 20th Amendment spells out in Section 3 that if the elected president dies before Jan. 20, his or her running mate becomes commander in chief. "If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the president, the president elect shall have died, the vice president elect shall become president," it reads.

However, that rule only applies after the members of the electoral college — the people voters are actually choosing on Election Day — gather in their respective state capitols and formally elect the president, according to Daniel Lowenstein, a professor specializing in election law at the University of California, Los Angeles.

So if the winning candidate dies after then, the vice president is sworn in on inauguration day. If he dies before then — or, for that matter, becomes disabled to the point that he can't serve — the electors are free to vote for someone else.

The situation is more complicated if a candidate becomes disabled after electors have cast their votes. If the candidate declares himself disabled, Lowenstein said, the vice president takes charge until the president is able to return to duty. If he's unable to serve but unwilling to declare himself unfit — or unable to do so, as in the case of a coma — a majority vote from the vice president plus the Cabinet could put the vice president in power.

Ann Sanner

Associated Press Writer

Washington

___

Somali pirates have seized 26 ships this year in the Gulf of Aden, despite military patrols by the U.S. Navy and other countries. How do these pirates manage to seize large ships? What are their tactics and strategies to get aboard and take over?

Bill Ruxton

Millersville, Md.

___

In Somalia, pirates are better-funded, better-organized and better-armed than one might imagine in a country that has been in tatters for nearly two decades. They have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government — some pirates even promise to put ransom money toward building roads and schools.

Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.

They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades — weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia, where a bustling arms market operates in the center of the capital, Mogadishu.

They are believed to get support from some members of local administrations, particularly in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northeast Somalia that is a hotbed for piracy. They also have a measure of support in their communities, which they occasionally help support with ransom money from their piracy.

More often, though, the pirates are seen driving new cars and building new homes.

Elizabeth Kennedy

AP Acting Chief of Bureau

Nairobi, Kenya

___

Since Oreos made in China have been found to be tainted with melamine, should we be worried that another popular Kraft product — macaroni & cheese — might also be contaminated? I know melamine has been found in milk products, and I noticed that Kraft mac & cheese contains "milk protein concentrate." Is the company, or the FDA, testing it for melamine?

Jennifer Kennedy

Santa Monica, Calif.

___

Kraft says U.S. consumers don't have to worry about any of its products, from Oreo cookies to mac & cheese, because the company does not use any dairy ingredients from China in products sold here.

Kraft is also defending Oreos, saying it doesn't use Chinese dairy ingredients in any Oreo products. The company questions the Indonesian government's report that Oreo wafer sticks were tainted with melamine. Testing by other Asian governments found no contamination, Kraft said.

The U.S. produces enough milk to meet domestic demand, and no Chinese companies are approved to ship milk, milk powder or similar ingredients here. FDA officials don't believe China's latest food safety scandal will have widespread impact for American consumers, and instead are focusing on imported products sold at Asian groceries.

The government has also stepped up testing at ports of entry as a precaution.

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

AP FDA/Health Writer

Washington

___

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

___