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Africa Horn | ||
France vows help with pirates | ||
2009-10-19 | ||
France's defence minister on Sunday pledged his country's support to the development of the Seychelles' judiciary, ill-adapted to dealing with suspected Somali pirates captured in its waters.
On the last day of a tour of the Indian Ocean, Morin held talks with Joel Morgan, the Seychelles' minister for environment, natural resources and transport. He vowed to boost the Seychelles courts' capacity a few days after the French navy said it was obliged to release 11 suspected pirates for lack of evidence following a failed attack on two French tuna-fishing vessels. Morin also said that the EU was planning to spend $1.18m on developing the small archipelago's judiciary. Morgan welcomed the minister's support, pointing out that "between February and June, maritime traffic dropped by 30% in the region, affecting mainly the tuna-fishing fleet." France, together with Spain, has several large tuna-fishing vessels stationed in the Seychelles, a key source of revenue for island state. The deployment last year of dozens of foreign warships to counter rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden has led Somali pirate groups to redeploy in the Indian Ocean. Since the monsoon winds dropped a week ago, piracy incidents have been on the rise after a relative lull and most of the incidents took place either inside or just outside the Seychelles exclusive economic zone. | ||
Posted by:Fred |
#3 I keep repeating that one ARCLIGHT strike down through Eyl or one of the other pirate "home ports" would put a stop to the piracy. We may have to actually do it twice, but it WILL work. It might be hard on the crews of the captured vessels, but they would be the last ones. |
Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-10-19 17:01 |
#2 The shipping companies having paid the Danegeld have only created more Danes. Fundamental principle - you get more of what you tolerate. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-10-19 08:45 |
#1 Every denizen of Rantburg understands how to crush this epidemic of piracy, but no government is willing to just do it. When pirates are caught in the act, hang 'em. When they are encountered in the act, sink their boats and leave them for the sharks. When they are tracked back to their shore bases, apply the Hama rules. And offer an 'ear bounty' to private contractors who wish to support us in the battle. |
Posted by: Glenmore 2009-10-19 08:05 |