NATO Ships To Patrol Somalia Sea Lane, Thwart Pirates

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:08:14 +0000
AHN Staff

Budapest, Hungary (AHN) - NATO announced Thursday it will deploy seven military ships to the waters off Somalia to escort U.N. ships delivering food aid and protect merchant vessels against pirates.

The decision was made at a two-day summit of ministers of the military grouping.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requested the patrol ships to ensure the delivery of food to refugees in Somalia.

"Substantially more than 40 percent of the population depends on the food aid being delivered by ship by the World Food Program," Appathurai told the Voice of America.

Somali pirates have been hijacking cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden with impunity and demanding ransom from shipowners in exchange for the release of the vessels and their crews. Among the victims of the pirates is a ship loaded with Russian tanks and ammunition.

U.S. warships are surrounding the said vessel to prevent the unloading of the military hardware and its possible transfer to the hands of Muslim militants and terrorists.

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