Friday December 12, 2008
UK, Kenya sign agreement to prosecute pirates
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Britain agreed Thursday to hand over any suspected pirates captured on the high seas, removing a key legal obstacle to prosecuting suspects in a growing menace off Somalia's lawless coast, a British diplomat said Thursday at a U.N.-organized piracy conference.
The agreement calls for Britain to hand over suspects to Kenya, as Somalia has no effective central government or legal system, Lord West said.
In the past, foreign navies patrolling the pirate-infested Somali coast have been reluctant to detain suspects because of legal uncertainties over where they would face trial. Kenya is to put the suspects on trial.
"Nations are very wary of taking pirates onboard their ships,'' said West, British undersecretary of state for security and counterterrorism.
"It is extremely difficult - where can you put them - if you're not going back to your home country, and even going back to your home country causes immense problems in terms of legal prosecutions.''
Britain does not have any detained suspects now. But in the past some suspects have been released by other members of the international naval coalition despite being found with weapons and boarding equipment such as ladders and grappling hooks.
West said the U.S. Navy once had a suspect aboard one of its ships for seven months due to confusion over where he would be prosecuted and logistical problems transporting him from the ship.
West said he hoped other East African nations, in addition to Kenya, would also be willing to try suspected pirates.
Representatives from 40 countries are meeting about how to stop the rampant banditry off Somalia's lawless coast.
They are expected to address the media after the close of the two-day meeting Thursday.
Somali pirates have taken in an estimated $30 million in ransom this year.
The pirates' focus has been the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, where 20,000 merchant ships a year pass on the way in and out of the Suez Canal, the quickest route from Asia to Europe and the Americas.
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