Pirate problem needs 'strategy'

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World leaders have to deal "properly" with piracy off the Somalian coast, UK Defence Secretary John Hutton has said.

He told the BBC the problem had to be looked at strategically, with restoring law and order in the region a priority.

But Mr Hutton said it was "too early" to talk about directly intervening in war-torn Somalia, which he described as a "basket case".

The US government is to urge the UN this week to authorise "all necessary measures" against Somali pirates.

Civilian risks

The dangers facing shipping in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden came to international prominence last month when giant Saudi-owned oil tanker Sirius Star was hijacked.

There are regular attacks in the area, with many countries blaming the collapse of law and order in Somalia.

We've got to look very carefully at what we've got to do, together with our allies in the international community, to restore law and order to that very troubled part of the world John Hutton

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will present a draft UN Security Council resolution this week calling for permission to "take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia".

However, on Saturday the top US naval commander in the Gulf and Indian Ocean, Vice-Admiral Bill Gortney, dampened hopes that piracy could be tackled by attacking bases on land.

He said such a policy would be hampered by the difficulties of identifying the pirates and the risks of harming civilians.

'From the land'

Questioned on BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend, Mr Hutton said: "We've got to look at this problem in a strategic context.

"I think there's an immediate short-term imperative to protect shipping, but we've got to look at this problem at its source, and it comes from the land, not just the sea.

"So we've got to look very carefully at what we can do to tackle the problem in the way the problem is manifested, and also what lies behind the problem."

On Sunday, Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed sacked prime minister Nur Hassan Hussein and the interim government.

'Ungoverned space'

The country has not had a functioning national government since president Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Mr Hutton said: "Somalia is a basket case, I'm afraid. It's a classic area where you've got ungoverned space, no effective state apparatus, and criminality and potential terrorism.

"The world community has got to address this problem seriously. We've got to look very carefully at what we've got to do, together with our allies in the international community, to restore law and order to that very troubled part of the world."

Asked whether this might mean directly intervening in Somalia, Mr Hutton said: "I think it's far too early to speculate about that. Right now our mission is dealing with the immediate problem that the pirates pose to international shipping on the high seas.

"There needs to be discussion about how we can properly deal with this problem in the long term."