Russia calls for UN action against Somali pirates

BBC:

Russia's foreign minister has called for joint international action to halt pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa.

"Russia aims to stop the outrageous actions of Somali pirates," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

A Russian warship has already been despatched to Somali waters following last week's seizure of a Ukrainian ship laden with 33 Russian-made tanks.

The pirates are demanding a $20m (£11m) ransom for the vessel which is surrounded by US navy warships.

On Thursday, the European Union agreed to establish an anti-piracy security operation off the coast of Somalia to become operational in November.

Mr Lavrov said the Russians would participate in international efforts to halt the piracy and called for a UN resolution to tackle the problem.

He said Malaysia was also sending frigates to join the US warships surrounding the pirates.

According to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, the Russian warship Neutrashimy is to commence patrols in the Gulf of Aden on 6 November.

The warship is reported to be carrying marines and commandoes on board.

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Patrols may inconvenience the pirates but the only way to destroy their operation is to destroy their base and the boats they use. That is clearly within the capacity of the naval vessels that are either own the scene or on the way. All that is missing is the will to unleash the weapons on the ports used by the pirates.

It is a lot easier to destroy their base of operations than to play whack-a-mole with various boats whose intent may be ambiguous.