NAIROBI , Kenya , November 25, 2005 (AP) – Somalia signed a deal with a U.S. firm Friday that will supply vessels and equipment for use in the fight against illegal fishing, dumping of toxic waste and piracy off the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.

Under the US$50 million (euro42 million) deal, Top Cat Marine Security will supply speed boats, deep-sea vessels, communication equipment and helicopters to be used by Somalia's future coast guard and special forces to restore government control over its coastline and economic zone, government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.

Somalia has had no effective government since opposition leaders ousted a dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other, carving the nation of 8.2 million into a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms.

Somalia has been struggling to re-establish a fully functioning government and end the reign of rival warlords. But the transitional government formed last year is weakened by divisions that prevent it from operating in the capital, Mogadishu , and other parts of the country.

Somalia 's anarchy spilled to the sea this year, with pirates stepping up attacks on vessels sailing near its 3,000-kilometer (1,880-mile) coastline, Africa 's longest. The country lies close to important shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean , where valuable cargo and carriers must pass.

The problem was reported globally after two boatloads of pirates attacked a luxury cruise liner carrying mostly American passengers on Nov. 5. The Seabourn Spirit sped away and no passengers were injured, but one of the 161-person crew was wounded by shrapnel in the raid, which occurred about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off Somalia .

Somalia 's government is dismayed by the attacks "and wishes to assure the international community that it is fully determined to eliminate these acts of piracy and illegal poaching," Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said Friday.

"The agreement signed today will defend Somalia 's territorial waters, defeat the pirates and put an end to the illegal fishing and poaching of our precious natural marine resources," Gedi said.

The New York-based maritime security firm is also expected to help Somalia 's government set up five naval bases in Somalia , including a possible base in the breakaway Somaliland republic, Dinari told The Associated Press.

Some of the areas where the government plan to set up the bases, however, are controlled by warlords opposed to the transitional government.

The pilot project and initial phase of the maritime security program is expected to run for two years. Somalia 's government and the New York-based firm will then review progress and decide whether to extend the deal, Dinari said.

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives