UN: Kenya Agrees to Plan for Maritime Pirate Police

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Kenya has agreed to help launch a new strategy for combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia. The proposal calls for police from the Horn of Africa to deploy on international warships to arrest Somali pirates at sea and bring them ashore for trial. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime is seeking U.S. congressional support for a new plan to prosecute Somali pirates who frequently hijack commercial ships off the Horn of Africa.The agency's executive director, Antonio Maria Costa, says international warships ideally should send pirates to their home country for trial. But, in testimony to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Thursday, he said Somalia's lack of a legal system rules that out."We are left with basically two options: bringing pirates to the court system of the country that seized them," Costa said. "Since the waters are being patrolled by European vessels, Chinese vessels, obviously United States vessels and so forth, we are talking about distances of tens of thousands of kilometers. The only option left is to bring pirates immediately to courts in countries on the shores of the Indian Ocean."Ship riders' would deliver pirates to Kenya courtDuring a recess at the hearing, Costa told VOA Kenya has agreed to a proposal he made in December to deploy police on international warships to arrest captured pirates. The police, or "ship riders," would then deliver the pirates to Kenya court for trial.The U.N. official said other Horn of Africa countries may join the effort, including Tanzania, Djibouti, Eritrea and Yemen. But, he said the plan will not work without international support...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-05-15-voa14.cfm