France, US, UK draft Somalia piracy resolution

[*jr]

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (Reuters) - France, the United States and Britain are drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize countries to fight piracy off Somalia and elsewhere, France's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

A surge in maritime hijackings for ransom in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have made it one of the world's most dangerous shipping zones.

"We French and the Americans, with the support of the British and others, want to have a resolution on piracy," French Ambassador to the United Nations Jean-Maurice Ripert told Reuters.

"We are in the process of agreeing among ourselves the (details) of the resolution, including the scope and the legal aspects," he said.

Somali pirates hijacked a ship en route from Dubai on Monday and Spain said it had sent a naval frigate after the seizure of a Spanish tuna fishing boat with 26 people aboard off Somalia.

The attackers appear undeterred by the arrest by French troops in the desert last week of six Somali pirates who had seized a French luxury yacht and held its crew hostage for a week. They were flown to France for questioning.

Ripert said there were complicated legal issues involved in preparing the resolution, but he said it was possible they might have a draft ready by the end of this week.

"The idea is to give a mandate, to call on states of the U.N. to tackle piracy by organizing patrols, reacting to acts of piracy, to take as many preventative measures as possible," Ripert said.

"We really are keen on not doing anything that could endanger the ... law of the sea," he said.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since the 1991 toppling of a military dictator, allowing anarchy and violence to flourish.

Kidnapping and piracy are lucrative businesses and most Somalis treat their captives well in anticipation of a ransom.

Ripert made it clear that the idea is that U.N. member states -- not the United Nations itself -- would join forces and root out piracy before it happens with stepped-up monitoring and patrols.

"It would not be the U.N. organizing it, but authorizing it, asking for it, giving the mandate to the member states to do that and to do it collectively as much as possible," he said.

Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said, "We think it is a very important issue, we want to move it forward as soon as possible.

"With recent events, it is critical that the Security Council looks at this immediately," he added.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageC ... 2020080422

[Shirib]

The solution to stop piracy in Somalia is real simple,

KEEP YOUR F*CKIN SHIPS OFF SOMALI WATERS

[Enlightened~Sista]

I see the Europeans are running to their organisation for help...yet..at the same time some western countries as well as other middleeastern countries continue to pollute our waters with their toxic waste as well as steal our resources..Where is the UN when thats happening??

the double standards is nauseating.

[SummerRain]

I see the Europeans are running to their organisation for help...yet..at the same time some western countries as well as other middleeastern countries continue to pollute our waters with their toxic waste as well as steal our resources..Where is the UN when thats happening??

the double standards is nauseating.

Well thats what happens when you have no voice sweetie. Somalis can only blame themselves for whats happening to them. Whats so nauseating is that this so called gov't official are the ones who are signing off contracts so that toxic and nuclear waste can be dumped into our shores. You would think that if we cant come to an agreement politically atleast we would take individual responsibility to protect and stand up for what is Somali against foreigners? Unfortunately, we are ignorant, selfish and doomed forever. Somalis will never fix up and learn from their mistakes.

[Grant]

Methinks the coastguard is sharing space and general resources with the Red Crescent Society. ( )