KENYA: Somalia's Prime Minister said he is working on a "strategic weapon" to combat piracy off Somalia's coast

Record ID: 361769

  • Title: KENYA: Somalia's Prime Minister said he is working on a "strategic weapon" to combat piracy off Somalia's coast
  • Date: 17th April 2009
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (APRIL 16, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE/ SOMALI PRIME MINISTER OMAR ABDIRASHID ALI SHARMARKE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOMALI PRIME MINISTER, OMAR ABDIRASHID ALI SHARMARKE, SAYING: "The only way we can deal with this is two ways. One is to create a security of actually preventing these activities before they go into the waters and the second is to cr
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2009 13:00
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  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVA9OQ67Y1O8YFSDXL0LIAE3AKWT
  • Story Text: Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said on Thursday (April 16) that creating economic activities for communities affected by illegal fishing and "creating" security on land are two ways to fight rampant piracy off the country's coast.

    "The only way we can deal with this is two ways. One is to create a security of actually preventing these activities before they go into the waters and the second is to create economic opportunity for the people of the coastal areas that have been affected by this illegal fishing," said Sharmarke.
    Sharmarke was speaking to journalists in Nairobi at a time when Somali brigands have shown no sign of halting hijackings on the Gulf of Aden and Indian ocean where pirates have captured dozens of ships and earned millions of dollars in ransoms.
    Sharmarke said he was consulting with regional leaders to come up with ways to tackle piracy.

    "Piracy is a symptom and the route cause of this is lack of corporate institutions that deal with it. Our objective is actually to stop these guys before they go to the waters and I think we have held consultations with Puntland regional authority, we have held consultations with local communities in the coastal areas. We still have on-going consultations with traditional elders and we are hopeful that we will come up with a strategic weapon that will actually lay out an action plan and we will share this action plan with the international partners," said Sharmarke.
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Wednesday for more international coordination to fight piracy off the Horn of Africa nation where foreign navies have been unable to stem the tide of attacks on commercial shipping in the area.
    Early this week, pirates captured two more ships and fired on two others. A French frigate seized 11 buccaneers on Wednesday, foiling another attack.
    South Korea's defence ministry said it had sent a navy destroyer to the region to escort cargo vessels in the country's first naval mission abroad.
    The Gulf of Aden is a key shipping route for South Korean vessels as they sail from the Middle East with crude oil for the world's fifth largest buyer.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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