NATO sends ships to fight Somali pirates
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 23:45:00 10/09/2008
BUDAPEST—NATO defense ministers agreed Thursday to send seven war ships this month to help combat piracy off Somalia, as attacks on vessels in Horn of Africa waters spiral, an alliance spokesman said.
"Ministers agreed that NATO should play a role. NATO will have its standing maritime naval group, which is composed of seven ships, in the region within two weeks," said the spokesman, James Appathurai.
He said the vessels, including a number of frigates, would help escort UN World Food Programme (WFP) food shipments and patrol the largely-lawless waters off Somalia to help prevent piracy.
"Piracy is a serious problem for shipping in that area, it is also an immediate threat to the lives of people in Somalia. Substantially more than 40 percent of the population depends on the food aid being delivered by ship," he added.
The WFP ships 30,000-35,000 tons of aid into Somalia each month. Its vessels are currently under Canadian escort, but that service is due to come to an end on October 20.
Appathurai said that NATO would coordinate closely with the European Union and the US-led anti-terror naval operation in the area to ensure there would be no doubling up.
"There is no competition here and plenty of work to go around," he said.
He did not say which countries would take part, but up to nine nations are set to participate in an EU naval operation: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and possibly Britain.
At least 32 foreign ships have been attacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden this year, more than twice the figure for all of 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has urged the international community to combat rising piracy off the lawless nation's waters.
Piracy is rife and well organized in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil transits.
The pirates operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships seized off Somalia's largely lawless coast for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners.
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