Government Opposes Creation of International Tribunal to Trial Somali Pirates

Published on Sunday 31st May 2009

The Somali transitional government has opposed the creation of international tribunal for convicting Somali pirates, an official told Shabelle radio on Sunday.

Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, the foreign minister of the transitional government who is in New York city told Shabelle media that the government did not request to form tribunal court to sentence the Somali pirates pointing out that they and the world are not satisfied with implementing an international court for pirates.

The minister said that they appealed earlier for the Somali pirates to be convicted temporarily in Kenya until a legal court is formed in Somalia.

Mr. Omar said that he attended a conference which the international contact group for Somalia held in New York saying that they suggested that the solution of the Somali pirates could come collaborating the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, the central government and the international community, adding that there more ships in Somali waters. Some of them are illegally fishing off the Somali coast while others are scattering poison in Somali waters.

The statement of the Somali foreign minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omar comes as some the international communities are making efforts to form an international tribunal against the Somali pirates.