Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Tuesday called on the international community to step up measures geared towards curbing piracy in the Indian Ocean.
President Kibaki noted that piracy in the Coast of Somalia was impacting negatively on the economy of countries in the region as it disrupted trade routes.
Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with U.S. General William Ward, the Commanding General of the U.S. Africa Command (Africom), President Kibaki emphasized the need to address the security situation in Somalia, noting that Nairobi recently hosted an IGAD special conference on Somalia.
A statement from Kibaki's office said the Kenyan leader urged Washington and EU to go beyond providing patrols and institute strategies that will ensure complete elimination of the piracy menace in the Indian Ocean.
"The President also advised shipping companies to use the safe routes created by Nato, the EU and the U.S. patrols and also provide information to the security teams patrolling the Indian Ocean," the statement said.
Gen. Ward briefed the President on the Africom activities in the region which include military exchange, humanitarian response and training of personnel in African partner states.
President Kabuki's remarks came as Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni ship loaded with steel in the Gulf of Aden.
Maritime sources said the MV Amani was travelling from Yemen's Mukalla port to the southern island of Socotra and had been due to dock on November 20 with 507 tons of steel.
News of its capture comes 10 days after the giant Saudi super-tanker, the Sirius Star, was hijacked with 100 million U.S. dollars of oil and 25 crew members.
The said pirates reportedly had not yet negotiated with the Sirius Star's owners, but had only spoken to intermediaries who "cannot be trusted".
Scores of attacks this year have brought the pirates millions of dollars in ransoms, increased shipping insurance costs, sent foreign navies rushing to the area, and left about a dozen boats with more than 200 hostages still in pirate hands.
Source:Xinhua
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