BRUSSELS, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Neither NATO nor the
European Union (EU) are considering blocking ports of Somalia to stop pirates
from entering the sea, said officials on Monday.
Both NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and
EU's foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana ruled out this option.
"Blocking ports is not contemplated by NATO," de Hoop
Scheffer told reporters after a meeting of the alliance's North Atlantic Council
and the EU's Political and Security Committee.
"The (relevant) UN Security Council resolutions, as
they are, do not include these actions. As far as NATO is concerned, it is at
the moment not in the cards," he added.
But the NATO chief did not rule out longer-term
responsibilities for NATO on anti-piracy off Somalia. NATO currently has four
warships in the Gulf of Aden to protect World Food Program food shipments to
Somalia and also to protect commercial shipping. The EU will launch its own
naval operation on Dec. 8, 2008.
Solana also ruled out port blockades, but said the EU
operation will have robust rules of engagement and that force can be used.
Maritime groups on Monday called on the UN to launch
an international operation to block ports along the Somali coast so that pirates
can be stranded on land.
Rampant piracy off the Somali coast has posed a
serious threat to merchant shipping. Although many countries have deployed
warships to protect their interests, pirates, who have their land bases in
Somalia, are having their way in the vast stretch of sea.
De Hoop Scheffer and Solana also condemned Sunday's
shooting at a motorcade carrying the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and
his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, near the border between Georgia proper
and the breakaway South Ossetia region. Georgia and Russia are blaming each
other for this incident.
De Hoop Scheffer and Solana blamed the shooting
itself and said they needed more information on it.
"When there is a shooting, from whatever part the
shooting might have come, it is wrong. (It is) certainly not in the spirit of
the agreements signed."
"I do not know any details. I cannot start blaming
any one. I can start blaming those who are responsible," he said.
Solana echoed de Hoop Scheffer's words, adding that
he will seek more information from EU observers deployed there.
Russia repelled a sudden attack on South Ossetia by
Georigan forces in early August and later formally recognized South Ossetia and
another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states. Russia has thousands
of troops stationed in the two regions as peacekeepers.
On the Western Balkans, Solana said he hoped an EU
rule of law mission will be deployed throughout Kosovo in early December. He
said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whom he met on Saturday, will submit a
report on this issue to the UN Security Council soon.
Somali pirates move Saudi oil
tanker
NAIROBI, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Somali pirates who
hijacked a Saudi Arabian supertanker moved the vessel from its location at the
port city of Harardhere to an unknown location, a regional maritime official
disclosed here Monday.
Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of the
Seafarers Assistance Program said the tanker was taken out to high sea and its
destination is not clear. Full story
Analysis: What causes rampant Somali
piracies?
BEIJING, Nov. 22
(Xinhua) -- Anarchy in Somalia, lack of a coordinated international strategy to
fight the kidnapping epidemic and a vicious ransom-weaponry cycle have resulted
in rampant piracies in the waters off Somali, analysts say.
Eyes across the world recently have been staring at the
Gulf of Aden, an area almost twice the size of Alaska flanked by Yemen and
Somalia, where Somali pirates are making newspaper headlines by capturing
several vessels within a few days including the largest oil tanker Sirius Star
ever kidnapped. Full story
Time to get down to business with
pirate scourge off Somalia
BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- With their Nov. 15 capture of the Sirius Star, one
of the world's largest oil tankers carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, the
biggest vessel ever hijacked at sea, Somali pirates leaped into the global
spotlight, setting alarm bells ringing on the seriousness of the threat they
pose. Full story
Somali pirates wreak havoc along key
shipping route
BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Attacks by pirates off the
coast of Somalia have fiercely intensified, with five vessels reportedly
hijacked in the past week, including Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star, the
largest vessel ever seized at sea.
On Wednesday, a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship was confirmed
to have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden near the coast of Yemen. Full story
Chinese FM: China to exert utmost
effort to rescue its fishing ship hijacked by Somali
pirates
BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Foreign Ministry
was further checking the information about the hijack of a Chinese fishing ship
seized by Somali pirates, and would exert utmost effort to rescue the ship and
the crew aboard, according to the consular news released Friday evening by
Chinese Foreign Ministry on its web site.
Chinese Foreign Ministry was going to spare no effort to
rescue the seized ship and the crew aboard, in coordination with relevant
organizations and Chinese overseas representative offices, according to the
news. Full story
Somali pirates wreak havoc along key
shipping route
BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Attacks by pirates off the
coast of Somalia have fiercely intensified, with five vessels reportedly
hijacked in the past week, including Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star, the
largest vessel ever seized at sea.
On Wednesday, a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship was confirmed
to have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden near the coast of Yemen. Full story
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