UPI
Thursday, August 26, 2010
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said eliminating piracy off the Somali coast requires a sustained effort both on land and at sea.
A Panamanian-flagged merchant ship with 23 crew members was attacked by Somali pirates in early August in what has become a chronic problem in the Gulf of Aden. Last week, Italy as part of a European-wide effort to combat piracy dispatched the warship ITS Libeccio from its ports.
Ban outlined seven options ranging from judicial aid for regional governments to international tribunals that would be responsible for prosecuting acts of piracy and robbery at sea.
"Let us always remember that reducing and eliminating piracy in the region means a sustained response, not only at sea, but also on land where piracy originates," the secretary-general added.
Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, echoed Ban's sentiments, but added Somali security was a key source of the piracy problem.
"Ultimately, only security and stability in Somalia will resolve the root causes of its current piracy problem," she said.
Somali insurgents with the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabaab movement stormed several high-profile targets in Mogadishu this week, killing several parliamentarians in a raid on a hotel in the capital city.
Source: UPI