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Tuesday, December 09, 2008
NAIROBI, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A two-day international
conference on piracy around Somalia is due in open in the Kenyan
capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday to discuss rampant piracy off the Somali
cost, the United Nations said on Tuesday. A statement from the UN Political
Office for Somalia said the UN-backed Dec. 10-11 meeting hosted by the
Kenyan government will be significant as piracy is linked to the need
for peace and stability in the war torn nation.
UN Representative for Somalia
Ould-Abdallah said the meeting is extremely significant and timely in
the light of the growing menace of piracy in the waters around Somalia,
which continues to threaten the freedom and safety of maritime trade
routes.
"It is clear that the problem of
piracy is linked to the need for peace and stability in Somalia
itself," said Ould-Abdallah in a statement issued in Nairobi.
"We hope that this high level
Conference will lead to greater international attention and cooperation
between countries, regional and international organizations."
The statement said a meeting of
technical experts on Dec. 10 will be followed by a day-long conference
at ministerial level which will be addressed by Kenyan President Mwai
Kibaki.
The Ministerial conference will be
co-chaired by Kenya's Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula and
UN Special Representative for Somalia Abdallah and attended by 140
representatives from some 40 countries, regional and international
organizations.
Ould-Abdallah welcomed the fact
that the conference comes the same week as the first naval operation
carried out by the European Union, known as Operation Atalanta, an
anti-piracy task force aimed at protecting merchant ships from pirate
attacks off the Somali coast.
SOURCE: Xinhua, Tuesday, December 09, 2008