04/10/08 (B468) Shabelle / Selon Mohamed Omar Dhala,, parlementaire somalien, accuse les grandes puissances de « légitimer » l’action des pirates, en exploitant les ressources de la Somalie à partir de navires qui embarquent les richesses locales. Dalha: pirates are invested by western countries (En Anglais – Info lectrice)

As the piracy attack on the horn Africa country coast have enlarged this year the Somali transitional government has announced strong measures against the pirates.

The deputy speaker of the parliament Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha has stated that the pirates are getting strong for the last months and he accused foreign government of sustaining their hijacking of the ships arrives on Somali coasts and Gulf of Aden.

“The big power governments those embarked ships at the coasts of Somalia prop up the piracy, why they came the Somali coasts is to exploit the resources” Dalha said in an interview with Shabelle.

He also added that the ransom funds that the pirates receive are aimed to enlarge as well to egg on the pirates to double acts of piracy off Somali coasts.

Dalha’s remarks came following the president of the transitional government Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has as well reviled the increased piracy in Somalia.

Speaking at a news conference at his residence in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Yusuf said the piracy in Somalia waters is adding to the difficulties of the Somali people who he said had already been suffering from insecurity, drought, a lack of adequate food and hyperinflation.

« These pirates are just imposing embargo on the Somali people and other countries. They prevented trade and food aid deliveries to the country. That is an acceptable, » the Somali president told reporters.

There has been an increase in piracy activities and the last of them is the abduction last week of a Ukrainian ship with 21 crew members and cargo of military hardware.

The pirates have demanded a ransom of 20 million U.S. dollars for the release of the Ukrainian ships, its crew and cargo.

A U.S. destroyer and other warships have been surrounding the hijacked ship to prevent the pirates from selling the small arms on the ship to weapons dealers and local insurgency groups.

The Somali president did not specifically mention the Ukrainian ship and its siege by warships from the United States and other countries but said that « piracy » should be eradicated.

Piracy is rife in the Somali coastal waters, one of the most important shipping waterways in the world. Nearly 50 ships have been either attacked or abducted off the Somali coast so far this year. The Somali transitional government has no navy and can not stop piracy activities on its shores from escalating.

He called on the insurgency to take part in the reconciliation process, saying that they can not take the country at « the point of a gun. »