4 December 2008
Addis Ababa — African Union (AU) Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has expressed concern at the increased incidents of piracy off the Somali coast, saying they were now a threat to global peace, a news report indicated Tuesday.
According to BuaNews, President Kikwete also said the international community should come in swiftly to save the country from further disintegration.
The president was speaking during talks with the Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Muhammad Sabah al Salem al Sabah, on the sidelines of the four-day United Nations Conference on Financing Development in Qatar, which kicked off on Saturday, BuaNews said.
"Piracy is not only a threat to peace and security to countries neighboring Somalia, but to the entire world in general. We are all worried," he was quoted as saying.
He noted that many people were now thinking of optional routes instead of passing through the Suez Canal, which he said was short but highly risky because of its vicinity to the Somali Coast.
The internationally recognized but weak interim Somali government is now on the brink of total collapse and the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia is inadequate, Western diplomats say.
More troops are needed to be sent to Somalia while Ethiopia has plans to pull its forces out of that country later next month.
Ethiopia said last month it was not prepared to continue propping up Somalia's interim government "indefinitely" and urged leaders there to embrace a peace process to stop 17 years of conflict.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's government has been unable to stop a two-year insurgency by Islamic militia, despite backup from thousands of Ethiopian troops.
U.N.-brokered peace talks in Djibouti to end the war, which has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, have been rejected by Islamist hardliners, while a spat between Yusuf and his prime minister has further hindered the process.
"If they fail to grasp this historic opportunity, we cannot help them by taking the responsibility on their behalf," Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopian foreign minister, told a regional meeting.
Kikwete said Ethiopian pull out will have devastating consequences.
"If Ethiopia goes ahead with its plans to pull out from Somalia, then a major humanitarian crisis is likely to follow," he told the Kuwait minister.
According to the BuaNews report, the President explained that there were serious misunderstandings between the interim president and his prime minister, where the president and his government are operating from Libya.
"It is unfortunate many attempts to resolve the conflicts have failed," he added.
Dr al Sabah also expressed concern over the situation in Somalia.
Meanwhile, the Somali pirates holding a ship of military hardware have reached a deal with the ship's Ukrainian owners and have agreed to release it.
Gunmen seized the Kenya-bound MV Faina, carrying 33 tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition, on 24 September. The ship, currently anchored off the pirate hub of Harardhere, has crew of 21 comprising mostly Ukrainians.
Pirates had initially demanded a ransom of $20 million.
Kenya has rejected reports the ship was bound for the government of semi-autonomous southern Sudan, saying the arms are destined for its military.
A regional maritime official Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program said Sunday, negotiations for the release of the Ukrainian ship are at advanced stages.
He said negotiations for the release of the MV Faina have so far gone well and may culminate in the release of the vessel with military hardware this week.
"Negotiations have been finalized and what remains is a few modalities before the release of the vessel. It could be this week, probably on Tuesday," Mr Mwangura said on Sunday.
According to news reports from Somalia, the pirates said they are still grappling with a few modalities before the ship and her 17 member crew aboard are freed.
This year there have been more than 90 attempts at capturing ships by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, 39 of which have been successful, according to maritime organizations.
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