Somali president accuses Islamists of being behind piracy

TALKING TOUGH: A file photo of Somali transitional president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed from February 2007. (Getty Images)

Somali transitional president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Tuesday accused Somali Islamist militants of carrying out piracy operations and said he was willing to allow Saudi and Yemeni forces into Somali territorial waters to help release captured ships.

His comments came on the same day that the UN Security Council extended its authorisation for countries to use military force against pirates operating off Somalia.

Yusuf was speaking in an interview with the website of Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya media organization while on a visit with Yemeni ambassador to Garowe, the capital of the semi-autonomous Puntland region to demand the release of a Yemeni ship anchored in the port of Eyl.

He accused the Shabab movement - an offshoot of the Council of Islamic Courts which controlled the capital Mogadishu until they were ousted by Ethiopian military intervention in December 2006 - and other Islamist militants of carrying out piracy operations in order to buy more weapons and "spread chaos and kill innocents."

These groups were terrorizing people in the southern areas under their control and imposing compulsory taxes and also have connections with international pirates, Al-Arabiya.net reported Yusef as saying.

He urged countries whose vessels were hijacked not to give in to ransom demands and called upon countries bordering the Red Sea to take steps to stop piracy since they are the most affected.

"Paying any ransom encourages pirates and supports extremist groups that want to harm the Somali people," he told Al-Arabiya.net.

The president of Puntland, General Mohamud Muse Hersi, also warned against negotiating with pirates or paying ransoms.

"Can you reward a thief who mugged you? This money makes them stronger and encourages them to carry out more operations. We should never give in to their blackmailing," he told Al-Arabiya.net.

Hersi said the Somali government needed marine and military experts to establish a powerful coast guard. "But no one is responding. What can we do?"

"The only solution is for the world to offer technical and logistic support to the Somali government," Hersi told AlArabiya.net.

"This way we can isolate the pirates and cut off any communication between them and the coastal cities from which they get supplies."

Yusuf added that piracy affects not only international trade, but has a hugely detrimental impact on the Somali people.

"The prices of basic commodities have spiked and people are starving," he said.

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