16 April 2009
United States Expands Fight Against Pirates
Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States is working on a long-term strategy that will thwart high seas piracy and restore maritime security to the Horn of Africa.
“These pirates are criminals. They are armed gangs on the sea,” Clinton said. “And those plotting attacks must be stopped.”
At a press briefing April 15, Clinton announced four immediate steps the State Department is taking in an expanded counter-piracy program. The first step is to send an envoy to attend an international Somali peacekeeping and development meeting in Brussels later this month. Currently, Ambassador John Yates, who was appointed two years ago, is the special envoy for Somalia and leads the Somalia Unit based at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
And Clinton said she is calling for immediate meetings with U.S. partners in the international contact group on piracy to develop an expanded multinational response. “The response that came to our original request through the contact group for nations to contribute naval vessels has turned out to be very successful,” she said. “But now we need better coordination.”
A diplomatic team has been tasked to engage with Somali government officials from the Transitional Federal Government and regional leaders in Puntland, Clinton said.
“We will press these leaders to take action against pirates operating from bases within their territories,” she said. “The solution to Somali piracy includes improved Somali capacity to police their own territory.”
The secretary said defending against high seas piracy must be a joint responsibility of governments, the shipping industry and maritime insurers. “I have directed our team to work with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defense measures,” she said.
The announcement comes after the U.S. Navy on April 12 killed three pirates and captured a fourth after the pirates had kidnapped an American cargo ship captain off the coast of Somalia and attempted to hold him for approximately $2 million in ransom. The French navy captured 11 pirates April 15 after intercepting a “mother ship” or command vessel used by piracy gangs about 900 kilometers off the coast of Kenya.
Clinton said it may be possible to freeze assets from piracy gangs and block their ability to buy new and faster boats with which to conduct piracy operations across the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.
“We may be dealing with a 17th-century crime, but we need to bring 21st-century solutions to bear,” Clinton said.
So far this year, at least 80 commercial cargo ships have been attacked in the 2.8 million-square-kilometer Gulf of Aden with 19 successful hijackings, according to the International Maritime Bureau. In 2008, there were 111 ships attacked and 42 successful hijackings. In 2008, 30,000 cargo ships passed through the gulf, the bureau said.
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