Somalia

UN takes fight against Somali piracy to land

Article published on the 2008-12-17 Latest update 2008-12-17 13:12 TU

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.
(Credit: Reuters)

A US resolution has been adopted by the UN security council which sets out new measures to help combat piracy off the coast of Somalia. The decision makes land operations against pirates possible.

This will send a "strong signal to combat the scourge of piracy," said US Security of State Condoleezza Rice.

Resolution 1851 enables countries to "take all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia".

The move makes it possible for countries to pursue pirates or armed robbers by any means necessary, with permission from Somalia's transitional federal government.

The US explained that maritime operations alone were insufficient for combating piracy.

It is the fourth UN security council resolution designed to tackle the growing piracy problem.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon welcomed the move, but added that the UN must also tackle the wider security issues in the country.

"We must be mindful that piracy is a symptom of the state of anarchy which has persisted in that country for over 17 years,” he told the 15-member body, which unanimously adopted the resolution.

Meanwhile as the UN passed the new resolution, Chinese sailors aboard the Zhenhua 4 managed to repel a band of pirates off the coast of Somalia after coalition forces came to their rescue.

But two commercial ships and a yacht were not so lucky on Tuesday according to the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.

They were seized in the Gulf of Aden, but no further information was available about their crews.