Posted on 11/25/2005 5:38:09 PM PST by DogBarkTree
NAIROBI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Somali government has signed a two-year contract with an American marine security company in a bid to end an upsurge of piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa country, officials said on Friday.
Waters off the coast of Somalia are considered among the most dangerous in the world.
Pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns earlier this month tried to board a U.S.-owned cruise liner about 100 miles (160 km) off the Somali coast.
New York-based Topcat Marine Security Inc. signed a deal worth more than $50 million with the Somali Transitional Federal Government in Nairobi to escort ships plying Somali waters.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi, who witnessed the deal, said his government recognised the damage caused by pirates and hoped Topcat would help end the piracy menace.
"The agreement signed today will defend Somalia's territorial waters, defeat the pirates," Gedi said, "The government wishes to express its dismay at these abhorrent actions."
Peter Casini, Topcat's head of research and development, said once in operation his company would target a mother ship used by the pirates to launch attacks on passing vessels.
"We will end the piracy very quickly, there is no question about that," Casini told reporters. "There is a ship that is launching small ships 75 to 100 miles from the shore, our goal is to take the mother ship."
The International Maritime Board has said that after two years of relative calm, 32 pirate attacks had been reported in Somalia since mid-March.
Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, when rival warlords ousted Mohamed Siad Barre.
Actually those are very good questions - 50M prolly equals their GDP - maybe its just a gesture to suggest they oppose terror and won't pay?
somehow I think these guys have most of the cash in hand before they start the operation....
.......:o)
L
rank -157 Somalia $ 4,597,000,000 2004 est
Can't the navy slip a fish into their ship just for drill?
lookin' fer a third career?...
They probably raised the $50 mil, by boarding ships in the area and having them pay a toll amounting to anything of value on board.
Some sort of UN organized group of grafters to take in UN money and distribute it to cronies like this marine outfit is my guess.
Would of been cheaper and quicker for the US Navy to take out this mothership.
Now if only Congress would only grant letters of marque and reprisal against terrorists, we'll have ourselves a splendid little war.
(I always thought I was born a century too late.)
Maybe they meant 50 million tires - they seem to have alot of those.
This could be a real interesting job as already pointed out.
mc
Gee, Wish I was 25 years younger and free to work the 'private sector' . Sounds like fun.
I wonder if this is the same mother ship in Calypso Louis' dream? Maybe he prophesied this event?
Dar, matey! Ahoy there, me hearties!
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