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MUSCAT (Khaleej Times) — Although pirate activity has decreased following the deployment of multinational forces in the Gulf of Aden, a solution to the vexing problem lies in stability in the lawless Somalia and building regional capability to counter the attacks, a top EU naval officer said here on Thursday. Commodore Pieter Bindt, Force Commander of the European Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), said global efforts to improve the internal situation in Somalia would not yield results quickly, but at the regional level there was an increasing realisation about the need to contain the menace. Currently, there is minimum participation in the counter-piracy operations by the region's countries. "Ultimately, the solution is on land. The UN secretary-general has appointed a special representative for Somalia as part of a wider international effort to bring stability to the country. But this will not happen quickly," Bindt said. A 'Pan Arab Task Force', he revealed, was now taking shape with Saudi Arabia the first to command it. "They (the regional countries) want to be involved. But they don't yet have the capability to do it," he said, also adding that there was no indication "at the moment if Oman was contemplating joining the task force." He was briefing the press on EU NAVFOR's anti-piracy campaign on board the flagship HNLMS Evertsen, at present docked at the Sultan Qaboos Port here. "It is essential that regional capability is increased to fight piracy," he said. Bindt said a proposed Coast Guard Training Centre, to be set up in Djibouti, would be another step in that direction. The centre, which will provide training and advice in counter-piracy operations, is expected to start functioning early next year. At present, there are about 27 ships from 16 different nations conducting counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. They are part of EU NAVFOR, NATO, CTF 151, or nationally deployed, like Japan, China, India and Saudi Arabia. EU NAVFOR's 'Operation Atalanta' was launched in December last year and its mandate has been extended by the European Council until December 2010 from the original 12 months, with joint funding of the mission amounting to euro 8.3 million for the first year. The force consists of units from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, with contributions from third countries such as Norway. Its main task is to protect World Food Programme (WFP) vessels delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia — some 3.7 million or half the country's population depend on food aid — and ships sailing in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. The Gulf of Aden is one of the world's busiest shipping routes through which 20 per cent of global trade passes, recording between 17,000 and 23,000 passages a year. Operation Atalanta's major initiatives include the establishment of the International Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC) and the Maritime Security Centre — Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA). The MSC-HOA centre provides 24 hour manned monitoring of vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden. "We have a fair idea how they (the pirates) operate, but we get little advance warning. It's a long coast, and because of the heightened awareness we get many false alarms," Bindt said. He, however, said there had been "very low activity" after August, adding: "Pirate success rate has decreased to nil in IRTC and declined in the Somali Basin. Seventy-five suspected pirates have been handed over to Kenya." The increasing commitment of merchant ships to the best management practices, the activities of the counter piracy forces and the efforts of the regional authorities have managed to keep the vast majority of ships transiting through "this huge area" safe,
Bindt said. He noted that virtually all ships now used IRTC, around 70 per cent reported transit to MSC-HOA and 90 per cent of registered vessels had adopted best management practices. Commodore Bindt said a link between pirates operating from Somalia and terrorists was possible, but so far there had been no evidence to prove it. "It is conceivable, but we don't see it," he said, answering questions from reporters during a Press conference here on Thursday. |
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