2007年VOA标准英语-Watchdog Group Says Somalia Still Remains Hot S
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By Cathy MajtenyiNairobi
22 January 2007
Piracy attacks are falling worldwide but hot spots remain, including in Somalia where the removal of the Islamic government set back efforts to curb2 the problem, a watchdog said Monday. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.
piracy1 stand in the dock under guard of Kenyan police officers in this 3 Feb 2006 file picture in the court in Mombasa" hspace="2" src="http://www.tingroom.com/upimg/allimg/070517/1351570.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />
Some of the ten Somali men accused of piracy stand in the dock under guard of Kenyan police officers in the court in Mombasa (3 Feb 2006)
The director of the London-based International Maritime3 Bureau, Captain Pottengal Mukundan, tells VOA his organization is watching Somalia closely now that the Union of Islamic Courts, or UIC, has been ousted4.
"When the UIC were in control of the southern part of Somalia, the number of attacks had come right down," he said. "There was one case of a vessel5 which was hijacked6 in which the UIC acted very decisively and arrested the pirates and had the vessel returned to its rightful owners, which was a significant move of the kind we have not seen in Somalia for many years."
Mukundan says that, within days of the Islamists' removal, pirates tried to attack an American bulk carrier, but were unsuccessful.
He says he does not want to see a return to the days where the waters off the Somali coast were among the most dangerous in the world.
"Our hope is this time that the interim7 government will be able to exercise proper authority and stop these kind of attacks," said Mukundan. "I think they need to crack down very quickly the first time an attack takes places on a vessel. If they don't do that, then the militias8 may feel that this is an activity which is allowed, and they can get away with it."
Piracy has been a big problem in Somali waters, prompting the International Maritime Bureau to issue warnings to ships throughout the years.
By the end of November 2005, there had been at least 28 piracy incidents that have occurred off Somalia's coast.
Warlords and their militias had used piracy as a source of income. In a previous interview with VOA, Harjit Kelley, a retired9 commander with the Kenyan navy, estimated that pirates had collected well over $1 million in ransom10 over the last few months of 2005, and said factional leaders were coordinating11 the effort.
The Somali government has argued that it lacks the resources and organization to crack down on piracy, and has called on the international community to do so.
