Indian Ocean and Red sea nations come together against piracy

With an aim to control the scourge of piracy off the coast of war-ravaged Somalia, Indian Ocean and Red Sea countries have pledged to cooperate in seizing, investigating and prosecuting pirates.
    
The pirates, along the coast of Somalia, have wrought havoc on international shipping, including United Nations delivery of emergency food aid.

"The adoption of this instrument (Code of Conduct) shows that the countries in the region are willing to act concertedly and together, contributing to the ongoing efforts of a broader international community to fight the scourge of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the area," UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) secretary-general Efthimios E Mitropoulos said.

Mitropoulos was speaking at a high-level meeting of the Code of Conduct adopted yesterday in Djibouti, convened by his agency. The Code is open for signature by the 21 countries in the region.

The meeting was attended by ministers and senior officials from Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen, as well as observers from other IMO members, UN specialised agencies and international and regional inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Nine countries – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Yemen – have already signed the Code, which calls for shared operations, nominating law enforcement and other authorised officials to embark in the patrol ships or aircraft of another signatory.

"Like the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (RECAAP), which was concluded in November 2004 by 16 countries in Asia, I have every faith that the Code of Conduct will prove to be the starting point for successful cooperation and coordination in the region, which will bear fruit in the suppression of piracy and armed robbery against ships," Mitropoulos said.

Representatives of States that have sent naval forces to protect shipping off Somalia, including China, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and United Kingdom, also attended the four-day meeting, along with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) whose chartered food aid ships have been hijacked several times.

Calling on the regional States to add their own contribution to protect shipping, Mitropoulos said, the long-term solution to the problem still lay onshore, within Somalia itself, which has not had a functioning central Government since 1991 and is riven by warring factions.

He also appreciated the efforts put in by the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and India, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia against piracy.

In December, the UN Security Council has unanimously called on countries and regional bodies with the necessary capacity to deploy naval ships and military aircraft off the Somali coast to fight piracy, including possible action against pirate bases on land.

Apart from chartered WFP ships, recent seizures by pirates have included a Saudi oil tanker and a Ukrainian ship with arms on board.