Somalis seek help to stop pirates

Somalia's transitional prime minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, has urged neighbouring countries to send warships to patrol waters off the Somali coast.
The call came after pirates hijacked a second United Nations-chartered ship carrying food aid.

Six gunmen forced the ship and its 10 crew to leave Merka port, 100km (60 miles) south-west of Mogadishu.

Mr Ghedi told the BBC his government was still in its infancy and could not yet establish security off the coast.

"It is a new phenomenon that has affected us in the past couple of months," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa.

"This is not a particular problem for Somalia alone, but affects our other stakeholders regionally and internationally as well."

Maritime officials describe Somali waters as some of the most dangerous in the world.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

The MV Miltzow had offloaded nearly half of its 850-ton cargo of food aid, when the hijackers struck.

A similar cargo ship, the MV Torgelow, was seized just days before. A hefty ransom is usually sought by the hijackers.

Another UN-chartered ship carrying food aid, the MV Semlow, was released last week, after being held by hijackers for 100 days.

Insecurity

"It is scandalous that a small number of profiteers would once again hijack humanitarian food supplies destined for fellow Somalis," said World Food Programme (WFP) country director Robert Hauser. The WFP said in a statement that the governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Yusuf Indha Adde, had sent two small boats to pursue the MV Miltzow.

"Given the continued insecurity off the coast of Somalia, WFP is looking at various alternative routes including overland from Kenya and through Djibouti," the statement said.

That decision would have serious cost implications and even then, security would not be guaranteed.

The Kenyan government has asked its citizens to avoid sailing to the Somali coastline because of the high incidence of piracy and kidnapping witnessed recently.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said Kenya is discussing with the transitional government of Somalia how to deal with these incidents.

Kenya is also investigating whether the gunmen behind the hijackings could be members of the interim Somali government.