Wednesday, April 15, 2009
During an interview with ABC's TV, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said the U.S. military has "actually been focused on this issue for some period of time, and set up a task force out in that part of the world last fall."
A U.S.-flagged cargo boat, the Maersk-Alabama, was attacked by Somali pirates last week about 400 kilometers away from Somali coast, and its captain was held hostage for five days before he was rescued by the U.S. Navy.
Following the incident, which was the first pirate attack, the U.S. government vowed to do more to halt the piracy threatening the region that covers 1.1 million square miles.
"It's a going business for the pirates," Mullen said, adding that part of the problem with piracy off Somalia is what to do with pirates who are captured.
He said that the U.S. and Kenya have a bilateral agreement for the African nation to prosecute any pirates captured on the high seas in the region.
"There's a lot of work to do," he said. "It's a big challenge, but there are many, many people working on it right now."
On the threat from Somali pirates to revenge on the U.S. for the successful operation to free Phillips, Mullen said that the military has taken their comments afterwards seriously, and been "well prepared to deal with anything like that."
Source: Xinhua, April 15, 2009