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Somali president advises against hitting pirate bases
Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:40am EDT
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By Cynthia Johnston
CAIRO (Reuters) - Somalia's president cautioned on Wednesday against any U.S. strike on the land bases of pirates who have seized dozens of ships off his country's coastline, saying such an attack would have no positive effect.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told a news conference in Cairo that he preferred instead to strengthen Somali police forces to act against Somali buccaneers who have made millions of dollars seizing vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
Asked about a possible U.S. strike, Ahmed said: "We advise against this ... because strikes like these rarely hit their marks."
"Training and arming the Somali forces is what will secure an end to this phenomenon," Ahmed said. "The idea now is to strengthen the Somali police force so they can pursue them, and to establish a coast guard whose mission would be to protect the Somali coast and prevent pirates from attacking passing ships."
The brief seizure of the Maersk Alabama and the subsequent hostage drama involving the ship's captain have led to calls from lawmakers in Washington and former military officers for U.S. forces to attack the pirates' bases on land.
A senior U.S. defense official has said the United States was unlikely to attack Somali pirate land bases due to the risk of civilian deaths but may help local authorities fight a scourge that has also driven up insurance rates for merchant ships passing through the waterways linking Europe to Asia.
U.S. officials are also wary of action that could lead pirates to seek common cause with Islamist militants such as Somalia's al-Shabab group.
'WE KNOW THEM'
The Horn of Africa nation has been wracked by instability and violence since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. Since then, there has been little effective central rule.
Ahmed, who headed the Islamic courts movement that defeated Mogadishu's powerful warlords and brought some stability to the capital and most of south Somalia in 2006, said his movement had been able to deal with the pirates when it was in power.
"The pirates live on land. They don't live in the sea. And we know the people. Previously, in the days of the courts, we with God's grace were able to stop them," he said.
The courts were initially welcomed for bringing order, but the West later accused the Islamic Courts Union of links to extreme terrorist groups and Washington's chief regional ally, Ethiopia, sent troops to drive the Islamists from power.
Somalia's prime minister, speaking in Addis Ababa, said on Wednesday that foreign navies patrolling off Somalia's coast had failed to discourage piracy "an inch," and condemned firms paying ransoms to sea gangs hijacking ships.
"The only reason people (become pirates) is because the companies are deciding to pay ransoms," Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke told reporters.
Organizers of a donors' meeting in Brussels this week say the Somali transitional government needs $165 million over the next year to build its security forces. Continued...
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