Defense secretary Robert Gates: Killed Somali pirates were "untrained" teenagers

2009-04-14 05:41:30  

    WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) --

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday that three Somali pirates who were killed by the Navy's Seals to end a hostage crisis were "untrained" teenagers.

    Addressing an audience at the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Virginia, Gates said that the slain pirates, aged at between 17 to 19, were heavily armed but inexperienced.

    They were shot dead on Sunday at the end of a five-day standoff with the U.S. military after they attacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship about 400 kilometers away from Somali and held an American captain as hostage.

    "As long as you've got this incredible number of poor people and the risks are relatively small, there's really no way in my view to control it unless you get something on land that begins to change the equation for these kids," Gates told students and faculty members.

    He also noted that there is no purely military solution to piracy in the region.

    The discussion on anti-privacy did not halt with the successful rescue of the captain, as President Barack Obama vowed to combat the rise of piracy off the coast of Somalia on Monday.

    "We remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region," he said. "To achieve that goal, we must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, be prepared to interdict acts of piracy and ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes."

    In the meantime, the U.S. Navy urged the country's shipping industry to strengthen security of their boats by deploying more armed guards and adopt more preventive measures. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan

U.S. military commander urges shipping industry to hire armed guards for boats

2009-04-14 05:43:35  

    WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) --

A U.S. military commander urged the shipping companies on Monday to provide armed guards for their cargo boats in case of piracy in the Horn of Africa.

    Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, who is in charge of the U.S. Navy's Central Command fleet, said during an interview with CNN that shipping companies needed to provide a last line of defense against being boarded by pirates, including armed guards and barbed wire around the lower parts of the ship, among others.

    "You need two things to have a successful piracy attack. You need pirates that are seeking monetary gain and you also need a ship that's able to get pirated," he said.

    The commander said that two vessels survived pirate attacks last week because they had put barbed wire around the ship on the closest avenues of approach.

    The piracy threats were put under spotlight in America after a U.S.-flagged cargo boat, the Maersk Alabama, was attacked by Somali pirates last week, the first case that happened to the country in more than 200 years.

    Although the boat and 20 American crew aboard have been successfully rescued, the alert against piracy remains, especially after Somali pirates threatened to retaliate.

    Statistics show that more than 100 ships off the Horn of Africa have been assaulted over the past year by pirates based on the coast of Somalia, which prompted the Navy to focusing on the Gulf of Aden, said Gortney.

    However, the pirates shifted their activity south into the Indian Ocean, one of the world's most crucial shipping lanes, and have attacked at least seven ships there in the past week, including the Maersk Alabama.

    Gortney said that the Navy has sent more ships to the region to patrol for pirates and been warning cargo ships to stay in deeper waters, away from the Somali coast.

    The United States hopes Somalian tribe elders would encourage young men to look for other livelihoods rather than piracy, he added. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Obama vows to halt piracy after rescue of American captain

2009-04-14 04:12:13  

    WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to halt the piracy off the Horn of Africa on Monday, one day after an American cargo boat captain was rescued from being taken hostage by Somali pirates.

    "We are going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," Obama said when he visited the Transportation Department. "We have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise and we have to ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes."

    Maersk Alabama, which is owned by a Virginia-based shipping company with 20 American crew on board, was attacked by a group of Somali pirates about 400 kilometers away from Somali coast on Wednesday.

    Despite takeover of the boat by the crew, their captain was taken hostage by pirates in a lifeboat floating near the Maersk Alabama.

    After days of standoff without yielding any result out of negotiations, the U.S. Navy Seals killed three pirates and set the captain free unharmed.

    "I'm very proud of the efforts of the U.S. military and many other departments and agencies that worked tirelessly to resolve this situation," Obama said.

    Earlier in the day, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whiteman told reporters that the successful end to the standoff could discourage future attacks on commercial ships sailing the Indian Ocean.

    "This could be a real discourager of people for which there have been relatively few penalties when they're engaged in this activity," he said. "I think the actions that the U.S. military took the other day could certainly have that effect."

    He also called on other nations and the shipping industry to look at ways to make commercial traffic less vulnerable.

    "If the last couple of days have taught us anything, it reinforces the fact that this is a complicated and serious international problem that needs to be addressed broadly. ... This is not a problem that can be solved entirely from the sea. And this is not a problem that can be entirely solved through military means." 

Editor: Mu Xuequan