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By Bill Varner
New York, Dec. 16, 2008 – Countries can chase pirates onto Somali
territory under a resolution approved today by the United Nations
Security Council.
The Security Council voted 15-0 to adopt a U.S.-drafted text that
permits all nations and regional organizations -- with the consent of
Somalia’s provisional government -- to “take all necessary measures that
are appropriate” to deter piracy.
“This new resolution would significantly expand the tools available to
navies in the region to take more offensive action, beyond simply
entering Somali waters,” said Philippe de Pontet of the Eurasia Group, a
New York-based political-risk analysis firm. “It would give UN cover for
targeted airstrikes and pursuit on land, typically considered major
breaches of sovereignty.”
The vote follows the Dec. 8 decision of the European Union to approve
deployment of a naval force off Somalia, the 27- nation organization’s
first such mission. The force would try to suppress piracy in an area
more than three times the size of France. The UN authorization given
today is good for a year.
Somali pirates have attacked about 120 boats in the region this year,
seizing at least 40 vessels. Brigands today hijacked a tugboat and barge
operated by a sub-contractor of French oil company Total SA, said Kevin
Church, a Total spokesman in Paris. The incident occurred off Yemen’s
coast.
Gates on Pirates
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called this week for steps to
combat the rising threat of piracy and said the U.S. needs more
intelligence before it embarks on land pursuits. Senior U.S. naval
officers have expressed concerns about pursuing pirates onto Somali
territory.
In “72 hours” pirates might release a hijacked Saudi oil tanker with
about $100 million in crude on board, the Saudi Gazette reported, citing
Abubakr Dari, one of the negotiators. The supertanker, owned by Saudi
Arabia’s state-owned Vela International Ltd. and carrying 2 million
barrels of crude, was hijacked on Nov. 15.
The Security Council has adopted resolutions authorizing increasingly
aggressive operations against pirates. A Dec. 2 text gives naval forces
the right to use “all necessary means to suppress piracy,” both in
Somali and international waters, and to destroy the pirate ships.
The resolution adopted today also calls for an “international
cooperation mechanism” and a “center” in the region to share
intelligence and coordinate military operations. A provision allowing
for operations in Somalia airspace was dropped from the final text to
obtain Indonesia’s support.
Suez Shipping Lanes
The pirates operate along Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast, as well as in
the Gulf of Aden, a transit point for the 20,000 ships a year that use
the Suez Canal.
Somalia is in its 18th year of a civil war that has forced more than 3
million people into exile and displaced at least 800,000. Its
Western-backed government is fighting the Islamist al Shabaab militia
for control over the nation of 10 million people, a contest that may
weigh on the effectiveness of today’s Security Council action.
“The possibility that al Shabaab soon takes Mogadishu and essentially
installs itself as the governing authority would have real implications
for the resolution, since al Shabaab, unlike the Transitional Federal
Government, would surely not give consent to such a resolution,” de
Pontet said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations
at wvarner@bloomberg.net
Source: Bloomberg
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