Nairobi — Somalia yesterday asked for help to patrol its lengthy coastline even as a Cabinet minister said Kenya should not be held responsible if ships were captured by pirates.

The appeal followed Wednesday night's hijacking of a third Kenyan ship, which was offloading food supplies at the port of Marka.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said that his government - which was yet to take control of the country - did not have the resources to protect shipping on Somalia's coast.

Mr Gedi said he would call for a meeting of every country that has an interest in securing Somalia's shipping lanes to organise an interim force to protect the country's waters.

Africa's longest

Somalia's 3,025-kilometre coastline is Africa's longest and the country has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, transforming this nation of 7 million into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias.

And speaking yesterday during the World Sight Day celebrations at Kwale Baraza Park in his Matuga constituency, Kwale District, minister Ali Mwakwere (Tourism), said that although Kenya cannot sever its relations with Somalia, shippers had to think twice before sending their vessels to the region.

Mr Mwakwere said the advice should not be taken as a ban as there was no way that the Government could control the movement of its citizens.

"Kenya cannot place a travel advisory to its citizens wishing to go to Somalia but we want to make it known that those going to the coastline of that country shall be doing so at their own risk," he said.

The minister said that the Government was in the process of negotiating for the release of all the Kenyans being held hostage in Somalia.

But Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said Kenyans should avoid the area because "of the high incidents of piracy and kidnapping that have been witnessed in recent times and to which many Kenyans have fallen victim".

It is feared that food supplies to an estimated 900,000 people faced with drought and famine could be disrupted if the the hijacking of ships does not end .

The World Food Programme (WFP) deputy director for Somalia, Mr Leo van der Veldon, said his organisation may consider the overland delivery of the food from Kenya or Djibouti.

"Food aid to the western Gedo region of the country is transported by road through the North Eastern Province (Kenya's) and that for the East and Central could follow the same route if the hijackings do not stop," the WFP said.

Mr van der Veldon said the time to reach those in need would increase and that would raise the risk of starvation and death.

He said the Transitional Federal Government was not yet in a position to provide security for the humanitarian operations and they were relying on local communities and elders. However, he said WFP would continue reaching those in need as it does everywhere in the world.

In the last two days, two ships belonging to the organisation's shipping agent , Motaku Shipping Agency, were hijacked off the Somali coast. The latest ship, MV Miltzow, was hijacked on Wednesday from Merka, 100 kilometres from Mogadishu while it was offloading food. Six gunmen stormed into the ship and forced it to leave the port with an estimated 400 tonnes of the total cargo of 850 tonnes of the food aid remaining on board at the time of the hijacking.

Ship is at Brava

According to the shipping agent, the ship is at Brava, 100 kilometres North east of Merka.

"The contractor of the shipping agent has been in touch with the gunmen on board the MV Miltzow and a quick resolution is expected," said Mr Inayet Kudrati, the director of the Kenya-based agency.

The second ship, the Mv Torgelo, which was hijacked earlier in the week, was carrying commodities belonging to general merchants and was also going to deliver fresh supplies to the Kenyan ship, Mv Semlow, which had been released after being held for three months.

The shipping agent said the hijacks had nothing to do with business rivalry and attributed them to lack of security in the country.