Friday, March 25, 2011.
newsinsdeNAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced six million Sterling Pounds (9.7 million U.S. dollars) funding to improve maritime surveillance of pirates in the Indian Ocean and to increase prison capacity in Somalia and across the Indian Ocean region.
A statement posted on the British High Commission in Kenya’s website said the money will help to ensure that suspects are prosecuted and those found guilty of piracy are imprisoned.
"The funding includes 5.3 million Pounds to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) counter piracy programme to build regional capacity for piracy prosecutions and detentions in Somalia, Kenya and Seychelles," the statement said.
"It will also help ensure that prison accommodation is in line with international standards and that prosecutions are in full compliance with due process and the rule of law."
Somali pirates have intensified their attacks on foreign vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Somalia and Yemen, which is the main sea route between Europe and Asia.
Tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass first through the Gulf of Aden.
About 4 percent of the world’s daily oil supply is shipped through the gulf.
The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well- coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket- propelled grenades, maritime officials said.
According to the statement, 600,000 Pounds (970,000 dollars) will be provided to fund enhanced optical imagery equipment for the Seychelles Coastguard to allow surveillance aircraft to take high image quality video and photograph.
This, Hague said, will aid the capture of the pirates and provide valuable evidence in court cases.
The fuel tanks of the aircraft will also be upgraded to enable them to fly longer distances.
"There are currently around 820 Somali pirates either serving sentences or awaiting trial around the world.
"I am pleased that the UK’s new support to counter piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean will aid the location, capture and detention of pirates across the region," Hague said.
"I applaud the efforts of UNODC to improve the conditions of prisons to international standards and the leading role the government of Seychelles is playing in tackling the scourge of piracy in the Indian Ocean," he said.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world’s most violent and lawless countries.
Combined Task Force 150, a naval alliance dominated by the United States and based in the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti, is patrolling an area within the Gulf of Aden to help protect ships from pirates.
In its most successful anti-piracy operation on March 12, the Navy immobilized a pirate ship and arrested 61 Somali pirates who had been stalking merchant vessels in the Arabian Sea for more than three months.
Thirteen crew members taken hostage by the pirates were also freed in the operation executed by two warships 1,111 km off India’ s west coast.
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UPDATE:
Britain partners with Kenya on
terrorism and against Somali piracy
MOMBASA (Xinhua) -- The British government said Thursday it has partnered with Kenya to train the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police on terrorism, piracy and general crime.
Speaking at the sidelines of a three-week course organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Mombasa, John Bradshow, head of communications at the British High Commission, said the Kenyan detectives are being trained by their British counterparts over security matters.
"We are not particularly looking at piracy only, we believe issues dealing with crime cut across the globe and handling different scenarios may therefore have standard practice," Bradshow said.
He said the trainers, all from the British CID branch identified as the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), and was taking the Kenya police through piracy issues, procedures on arresting, investigations and prosecutions on general and specific crimes against suspects.
The official said the CID officers numbering about 30, would go through various courses before completion.
He said the second stage of a similar course will be rolled out for senior officers, after competing with those at detective level.
"Our aim is to ensure we support the Coast police officers in their efforts to fight crime, particularly piracy and impunity in general, build their capacity and share techniques used by police in Britain," he said.
This, he said, would entail sharing with the officers on how to organize themselves before doing an operation.
The British High Commissioner Rob Macaire had earlier said Britain would fully support the Kenyan police in its efforts to combat crime.
The delegation had visited one of the British Council programs at the Muslims Education Welfare Association (MEWA) on bringing together intercultural dialogue, which encompasses citizens from Wales, Britain.
The official said the group will be among other things, be discussing about climate change as the main theme.
A trainer handling the CID officers, Superintendent John Bailey said they will work with the Kenyan detectives and share skills used in Britain.