With U.S. warships offshore and a Russian missile frigate on the way, Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf, said Wednesday that he welcomed international intervention against Somali pirates roaming a main East-West shipping route. The hijacking last Thursday of a Ukrainian-operated vessel carrying T-72 tanks and other weapons has galvanized the world's leading navies after more than 60 other pirate attacks this year on ships off Somalia and in the nearby Gulf of Aden.
The defense chiefs of eight European Union countries joined the fight Wednesday, agreeing to move toward creating a maritime security force against piracy, French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said in Paris.
In Somalia, Yusuf urged Somalis to turn against the pirate gangs. "I also call on the international community to act quickly on what is happening in Somali waters as well as onshore," he told reporters in the capital, Mogadishu. "We must do everything we can to stop piracy off the coast of Somalia."
The pirates had imposed an "embargo" against Somalia and other countries by preventing trade and food deliveries, he said.
The pirates are holding the Ukrainian-operated Faina a few miles off eastern Somalia. They have demanded $20 million for the release of the vessel and its crew of 13 Ukrainians, seven Russians and one other Eastern European. The ship's captain died of natural causes shortly after the hijacking, the pirates have said by satellite telephone.
The United States has deployed an unspecified number of warships and aircraft within sight of the Faina, and U.S. Navy officials have said they are intent on ensuring that the pirates do not unload the arms.
Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said Russian commanders hope for a peaceful end to the hijacking, independent and state news agencies reported Wednesday. "Taking forceful measures, for obvious reasons, is an extreme measure, as this could create a threat to the lives of the international crew of the cargo ship," Dygalo was quoted as saying.