More than $200M pledged to beat Somali pirates

(CNN) -- Countries have pledged $213 million at an international conference to boost security in Somalia and halt the country's growing piracy problem.

"We have a unique opportunity to support leaders who have shown a commitment to building peace and rebuilding the Somali state," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "By opening the space for security, we open the door to a better life for Somalia's people."

"The risks of not supporting the new government are too high and the costs of failure too enormous," Ban added.Organized by the European Union, the conference included leaders from the United Nations and African Union.As the pledges rolled in, Somalia's prime minister said international naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden were not solving the problem of piracy in the region.Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke pointed to the recent increase in pirate attacks as evidence, and called for the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia to be lifted so the government can fight back against the pirates and militant Islamist groups."One of our biggest problems is that al-Shabaab has AK-47s, and the pirates have AK-47s, and the government has AK-47s," the prime minister said in Nairobi, Kenya. Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, is an Islamic militant group that controls much of southern Somalia...more..http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/24/pirates.security.meeting.money/index.html?eref=rss_world