Nato escorts cargo ship
2008-10-27 18:00
Brussels - A Nato warship has successfully escorted a cargo ship towards a port in Somalia in the first such mission to tackle the growing problem of piracy off the country's coast, the alliance's chief said on Monday.
"One Nato ship just finished escorting a ship which was bringing in supplies" for the Burundi section of the UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia, Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said during a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
He added that the escorted ship was expected to dock on Tuesday.
Three Nato ships - an Italian destroyer and British and Greek frigates which form Nato's operation Allied Provider - have been given the go-ahead to "use force" under their rules of engagement and in line with international law.
They will help escort UN World Food Programme (WFP) food shipments, cargoes that are tempting targets for pirates, until the EU can launch its own operation, probably in December.
The WFP ships 30 000 to 35 000 tonnes of aid into Somalia each month.
- AFP