Bid to patrol Somalia's waters

2005-10-13 23:05

Nairobi - Somalia's prime minister called on neighbouring countries on Thursday to send warships to patrol his lawless nation's waters after a third cargo vessel delivering food aid was seized by pirates.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said his government - which has yet to take control of the country - does not have the resources to protect shipping along Somalia's coast.

Gedi said he would call for a meeting of every country that has an interest in securing Somalia's shipping lanes to organise an interim force to protect Somalia's waters.

Somalia's 3 025km coastline is Africa's longest and the country has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, transforming this nation of seven million into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias.

Little progress made

Gedi's transitional government, formed in 2004 after lengthy peace talks in Kenya, raised some hope for the Horn of Africa country. But members of the transitional government have been fighting among themselves in recent months and have made little progress in establishing themselves in the country, spending much of their time in neighbouring Kenya.

"Since our coast guard disintegrated 15 years back, still we do not have enough forces to protect the waters and the properties travelling in the waters of Somalia," Gedi said.

"I want to appeal to the leaders of the states in the region and the governments who have interests in the waters of the Indian Ocean to join efforts to bring collective responsibility for ending this very bad piracy," he added.

The St Vincent and Grenadines-registered MV Miltzow was stormed by six gunmen who forced the ship's 10-member crew to leave the port of Merka, 100km southwest of the capital of Mogadishu, said the World Food Programme (WFP).

Looking for alternative routes

Nearly half the total cargo of 850 tons of WFP food aid was on board at the time of the hijacking.

"It is scandalous that a small number of profiteers would once again hijack humanitarian food supplies destined for fellow Somalis," said WFP country director Robert Hauser.

WFP said the governor of the lower Shabelle region, Yusuf Indha Adde, had sent two small boats to pursue the vessel.

On June 27, gunman hijacked the MV Semlow and held the vessel for 100 days before it was released on October 4.

The latest ship hijacked was carrying 703 tons of maize, 108 tons of beans and 39 tons of vegetable oil destined for some of Somalia's most vulnerable people in the country's lower Juba Valley, said Hauser.

"Given the continued insecurity off the coast of Somalia, WFP is looking at various alternative routes including overland from Kenya and through Djibouti," it said. "Shipping companies are currently demanding armed escorts."

- AP