Admiral Skeptical as US Seeks to Pursue Pirates onto Land

Mogadishu Saturday, 13 December 2008 SMC

The Pentagon says it is looking into how it might act on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution, being circulated by the United States, that would, for the first time, authorize military action against pirate bases inside Somalia. But a senior American admiral is expressing skepticism about the plan.

The draft resolution calls on all countries to actively fight piracy off the Somali coast, as many countries including the United States have been doing. The U.S. draft also adds a 12-month authorization for foreign forces to enter Somali territory and airspace to "take all necessary measures" to find and stop pirates, if the transitional Somali government agrees.

But in Bahrain on Friday, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, said he does not need any more authority to fight pirates. He told reporters it would be difficult to identify pirate bases in Somalia because they blend in with the local population, and he said any attacks would likely result in civilian casualties.

Admiral Gortney said piracy can not be ended through U.S. military action alone. He said to do more on piracy he needs better cooperation among all the world's navies, but also a bigger security effort by the shipping industry and improved stability, economic development and rule of law in Somalia in order to reduce the number of men who turn to a life of crime on the high seas. And the admiral says he needs one more thing.

"We need the international community to provide us a mechanism that when we capture pirates we have a process to hold them and then take them to a court of law and hold them accountable for their actions if they're found guilty," he said.

Admiral Gortney says his forces rescued some men on a small boat this week whose engine had gone out and who had no food or water left. The sailors found rifles and grenades in the boat and concluded the men were pirates, but because they had not been observed doing anything wrong the troops had to treat them as "mariners in distress." So they were rescued then set free in Yemen.

In recent months, U.S. military and civilian officials have cited many difficulties in trying to deal with piracy in the region, including the ones mentioned by Admiral Gortney, as well as the logistical difficulty of trying to police a body of water as large as the Gulf of Aden and dangers any military action would pose to hostages held on pirated ships. Pirates currently hold about 300 hostages on 17 ships off the Horn of Africa.

On Friday, Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman said there are still a lot of details to work out before the U.S. military would be ready to more aggressive in dealing with pirates, or to take the fight onto land.

"I would tell you that there are many issues associated with this, and you've hit upon a lot of them. There are many challenges to this. There are legal issues out there. There are practical issues with respect to how you would go about doing this. And the United States government is trying to take a look at this in a broad way. And we, as part of that, are certainly going to look at what some of the military aspects would be. We are in the process of that. It's ongoing," he said.

Whitman says military action alone can not solve the piracy problems. "I think there are many that are seeking a simple military solution, or solely a military solution, to address the piracy issue. And I think we need to take a more comprehensive look at this. And while there may be a military component, this is an issue that has to be addressed more broadly," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be at the United Nations next week to talk about the piracy resolution with representatives of other Security Council member nations. Earlier this month, the council extended its mandate for naval anti-piracy patrols, but it is not clear when the new draft adding action on land and in Somali airspace might come to a vote.

Source: VOA

Somaliweyn Media Center “SMC”

Arabic News Today's News 12-Dec -2008 القوات الإثيوبية تشن هجوما علي معقل القوات الإسلامية في إقليم شبلي السفلي (Read more) 12-Dec- 2008 أربعة جرحي جراء انفجار قنبلة بمركز للشرطة في مدينة أفقوي (Read more) 12-Dec- 2008 Today's News 10-Dec -2008 مقتل تسعين إثيوبيان علي يد جبهة تحرير أوغادينيا بعد أن أحرقت مركز هذه القوات في محافظة ورطير في إقليم أوغادينيا (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 وفد لرفيع المستوي من تحالف من أجل التحرير بقيادة الشيخ شريف يصل إلي مقديشوا (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Today's News 7-Dec -2008 انفجار ضخم تتعرض له القوات الإثيوبية أثناء مغادرتها لبور هكبه في إقليم باي وبكول الصومالي (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 رئيس الوزراء الصومالي نور حسن حسين يصل إلي مدينة بيطوة قادما من جيبوتي (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Today's News 6-Dec -2008 اندلاع إشتباكات بين قوات الإسلامية وجبهة تحرير أوغاد ينيا في جوبا السفلي (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 مقتل أربعة وإصابة ستة آخرين من بينهم مسؤلين أمنيين في قوات الأمن الصومالية في عمليات اغتيال مختلفة (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 القوات الإسلامية تهاجم معقل القوات الإثيوبية في الشارع الصناعي (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 حركات إسلامية تتقاتل في إقليم قلقذود في شمال الصومال (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 Today's News 4-Dec -2008 رئيس الجمهورية والجنرال عده موسي يصلان إلي جيبوتي في زيارة مفاجئة (Read more) 4-Dec- 2008 القوات الإثيوبية في منطقة ياخشيد تتعرض لاشتباكات من قبل القوات الإسلامية (Read more) 4-Dec- 2008 مقتل ثلاثة مدنين علي يد القوات الحكومية في منطقة هرواي (Read more) 4-Dec- 2008 القوات الإثيوبية تقتل مدنيا أثناء مغادرتها عدة نقاط تمركز لها في مدينة مقديشوا (Read more) 4-Dec- 2008 Today's News 3-Dec -2008 نجاة محافظ منطقة بنادر من محوالة إغتيال بعد هجوم شنته قوات الحرس الجمهوري (Read more) 3-Dec- 2008 رئيس الوزراء الصومالي يصل إلي مدينة بيطوة لإجتماع بأعضاء البرلمان الصومالي (Read more) 3-Dec- 2008 وفد رفيع المستوي برئاسة رئيس الوزراء الصومالي يصل إلي مدينة إلي مقديشوا Today's News 2-Dec -2008 مقتل مدني علي يد القوات الحكومية في شارع بلعد الواصل بين مقديشوا وإقليم شبلي السفلي (Read more) 2-Dec- 2008 مدينة بيطوة تشهد هجمات عنيفة علي منازل أعضاء البرلمان الصومالي (Read more) 2-Dec- 2008 Today's News 1-Dec -2008 مقتل راكب وإصابة أكثر من ١٥ شخصا في حادث سيارة علي طريق أفقوي مقديشوا (Read more) 1-Dec- 2008 Today's News 30-Nov -2008 قتل خمسة أشخاص بعد سلسة من الإنفجارات شهدتها مدينة بيطوة (Read more) 30-Nov- 2008 القوات الإثيوبية تنسحب من بعض مراكزها في إقليم باي (Read more) 30-Nov- 2008

English News Today's News 12-Dec -2008 The US has requested international authorisation for countries pursuing Somali pirates to hunt them down on land (Read more) 12-Dec- 2008 Today's News 10-Dec -2008 Somali main opposition leader returns to Mogadishu (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 UN Special Representative welcomes Sheik Sharif's return to Mogadishu (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 SHEIK SHARIF IN MOGADISHU (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Ethiopian soldiers arrested Somali traditional elders (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Kenyan security personnel detain Somalis at Eastligh in Nairobi (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Ethiopia says decision for Somalia pullout is irreversible (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Somali Islamists snatch a border town (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Hostage crew in breakout bid as EU mulls daunting task (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Statement by the presidency of the Council of the European Union on Somalia (Read more) 10-Dec- 2008 Today's News 9-Dec -2008 Ethiopia Rejects Rights Report on Somalia as 'Politically-Motivated' (Read more) 9-Dec- 2008 Somali pirates threat force cruise ship evacuation (Read more) 9-Dec- 2008 EU force may post guards on ships to beat pirates (Read more) 9-Dec- 2008 Today's News 8-Dec -2008 Somali Premier “The power sharing deal will be based on 4.5” (Read more) 8-Dec- 2008 EU launches 1st naval mission off Somalia's pirate-plagued coast (Read more) 8-Dec- 2008 Islamists in central Somalia are on high alert as Ethiopians advancing.(Read more) 8-Dec- 2008 All sides commit war crimes in Somalia: rights group (Read more) 8-Dec- 2008 Ethiopian troops in Somalia : Friend or Foe ? (Read more) 8-Dec- 2008 Today's News 7-Dec -2008 Somali Primer returns to Somali legislators’ base (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Extra Ethiopian soldiers are on the way to Mogadishu (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Somalia Consolidated Appeal Process CAP 2009 for Somalia launched (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Somali: Families fear missing men returned to Somalia (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Somalia: Further fighting (Read more) 7-Dec- 2008 Today's News 6-Dec -2008 Two anti Ethiopian armed movements clash in a border town (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 Somali opposition leader condemns the ongoing fighting in Somalia (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 SomaliWeyn Female journalist wounded in Mogadishu violence (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 Deadly clashes renewed in Central Somalia (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 UN envoy for Somalia calls for release of hostages (Read more) 6-Dec- 2008 Today's News 5-Dec -2008 20 young doctors graduate in Somalia, 1st in years (Read more) 5-Dec- 2008 Alliance of Youth Movements to Hold Anti-Violence Summit Online (Read more) 5-Dec- 2008 Press Release: Continued Support for Somalia’s Unity Government (Read more) 5-Dec- 2008

Somaliweyn Media Center (SMC)
Muqdisho Somalia

	Web You Domainame

Bar. Haweynka:
Barnaamijka Amuuraha Haweynka oo maalin kasta oo Jimcaha saacadda 1:30-2:00 PM, waxaa soo diyaariya isla markaana noo sheegto Rasmi Maxamud Xeebow Bar. Haweynka