A Cabinet minister in Somalia's Puntland State government has called on the United States government to withdraw its naval forces from Somali shores or help in the campaign against local pirates.Said Ahmed O'Nur, Puntland's Fisheries and Ports Minister, told Voice of America' s Somali-language program that U.S. Navy warships have been watching a hijacked ship for nearly two months without taking any military action against the pirates on board. He indicated that there is "no communication" between the U.S. Navy and the government of Puntland. According to the minister, the U.S. naval warships "allow" the pirates to go to and from the ship - Russian-registered Svitzer Korsakov, which pirates hijacked on Feb. 5. "Local fishermen are not allowed to take their boats to sea," Minister O'Nur said during the interview.
He stated that locals informed the Puntland government that U.S. sailors disembark from their warships and use small boats to fish, adding: "Who allowed them to fish along our [Somali] coast?"
The Fisheries and Ports Minister called on the U.S. Navy to withdraw its ships from the Puntland coast or "convince the [Puntland] government about what they are doing there." He also indicated that there are "many rumors" about reports of nuclear waste being dumped along Somalia's shores, which the Puntland government is to investigate.