Britain is to lead an armada of EU warships to the Gulf of Aden next month to tackle the escalating problem of piracy in a mission expected to last 12 months.

The naval fleet, under UK command, would "disrupt and to tackle the scourge of piracy", foreign secretary David Miliband said today on a visit to Beirut. Piracy threatens trade and prosperity, he added.

EU military planners this week drew up a detailed mandate, including rules of engagement for the use of force, for the mission at a meeting at Northwood, Britain's joint operations centre in north-west London. Plans for the EU fleet, led by HMS Northumberland and known as Operation Atalanta, are due to formally agreed early next month, European defence officials said today.

The EU fleet, originally proposed to escort boats carrying food aid to Somalia, should include ships from ten countries.

Nato military chiefs, meeting in Brussels today, indicated that a coordinated worldwide response was required to deal with piracy amid a plethora of proposals about how to deal with the problem.

Russia today came up with its own proposal - land operations against the bases of Somali pirates.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to Nato, said the view of Russian experts was that naval action alone, even involving a large fleet of a powerful nation, would not be enough to defeat the pirates, given Somalia's geo-strategic position.

"So it is up to Nato, the EU and other major stakeholders to conduct not a sea operation, but in fact a land coastal operation to eradicate the bases of pirates on the ground," he said. "Because we all know... they have their bases on the ground and of course those actions should be coordinated with Russia," Rogozin said, without making clear whether he envisaged Russian involvement in any operation.

Allied chiefs of staff, meeting in Nato's military committee which devoted most of its time to the conflict in Pakistan, said piracy must be tackled as a long-term problem involving other international, organisations, including the UN, a Nato military spokesman told the Guardian.

Most European countries take the view that piracy is intrinsically linked to the economic and political crisis in Somalia, a failed state. They do not, however, believe that al-Qaida is involved in any of the piracy incidents.

Nato has four ships on patrol in the waters off Somalia, with two protecting UN food aid convoys. That mission, Nato's first against pirates, ends next month when the EU operation, called Atalanta, starts.

"The EU presence will be bigger and more designed for the mission," James Appathurai, the chief Nato spokesman, was reported as saying today.
www.guardian.co.uk . . .

Russia today came up with its own proposal - land operations against the bases of Somali pirates.

Chirac_estun_ver wrote:

Good. Clean out the rat's nest. They'll do a good job if the politicians don't get all soft and girlie about things.


[q]Russia today came up with its own proposal - land operations against the bases of Somali pirates.

Now that can be really nasty if the Russians are leading the land attack. Russia won't listen to any Leftist crying, not that they would utter a cross word against Russia.

rmada of EU warships

I haven't heard a thing as fanny as that for a while. Will they rent Russian helicopters for that mission too?

Western countries have the firepower at hand to fix the problem, but they do not have the political will.

Britain is to lead an armada of EU warships to the Gulf of Aden to tackle pirates

Britain is to lead an armada of EU warships to the Gulf of Aden to tackle pirates

NeoCon wrote:

Britain is to lead an armada of EU warships to the Gulf of Aden to tackle pirates

Translation: Great Britain will be fighting pirates in the Gulf of Arden, while whatever ships the rest of the EU can muster, will sit and watch.

SSaxonsucks wrote:

since french army captured and killed somalians pirate of the Ponan" few months ago... the pirates dont attack french ships anymore..

A_Thinking_Man wrote:

Hey Viking Idiot, why didn't you post a picture of an EU armada instead of a US Carrier Battle Group?

If europe tried to put together a CBG comparable to the one in the picture, you'd have to cancel your "free health care" for 500 years.

A_Thinking_Man wrote:

Hey Viking Idiot, why didn't you post a picture of an EU armada instead of a US Carrier Battle Group?

If europe tried to put together a CBG comparable to the one in the picture, you'd have to cancel your "free health care" for 500 years.

simplefrench wrote:

Even if you bring your troops home, you still have military bases everywhere.