[dehai-news] (EUobserver) EU to deploy mission against Somalian pirates


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From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Oct 02 2008 - 09:37:29 EDT


EU to deploy mission against Somalian pirates

VALENTINA POP

Oct 2, 2008

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A maritime EU defence and security mission
might be deployed off the coast of Somalia as soon as November, with
possible joint NATO or US forces, French defence minister Herve Morin
said on Wednesday (1 October) after an EU defence minister meeting in
Deauville.

"There is tremendous interest from the EU and any country who wants
to participate in such an operation. Ten countries have clearly given
their agreement," Mr Morin said, naming Germany, Spain and France as
amongst the promoters of such an idea.
EU ministers mandated a general to plan operations and begin a
co-ordination with NATO to launch a European Security and Defence
policy mission as of November, he added.
 

"I think it's normal that NATO forces or simply US forces might be
involved. There are a number of vessels there that fly the American
flag," Mr Morin explained.

The decision comes after pirates hijacked an Ukrainian ship last
week carrying 33 Ukraine-made tanks, rifles, and heavy weapons - and 20
hostages, one of whom has died. The hostages remain on board and the
ship is surrounded by US warships. NATO also has military ships to the
Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, the president of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf, said on
Wednesday that he welcomed international intervention against the
pirates who have seized over 60 ships this year alone, Washington Post
reports.

"I also call on the international community to act quickly on what
is happening in Somali waters as well as onshore," he told reporters in
the capital, Mogadishu.
 "We must do everything we can to stop piracy
off the coast of Somalia."
 

The pirates had imposed an "embargo" against Somalia and other countries by preventing trade and food deliveries, he said.
 

Heavily armed and operating high-powered speedboats, the pirates
target their attacks in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip
meets the Indian Ocean, a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal
through which an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil transits.

EU foreign ministers already had agreed on 15 September to set up a
special unit aimed to protect shipping from pirates off the Somali
coast.
 

The "co-ordination unit" will be based in Brussels and have "the
task of supporting the surveillance and protection activities carried
out by some member states off the Somali coast."

http://euobserver.com/13/26850

      

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