Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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Somalia has requested assistance from Sri Lanka to find a permanent solution to its piracy menace, a Sri Lankan minister told the parliament here on Friday.According to a letter that was read out by Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne in the parliament, Somalia’s Counter Piracy Directorate’s Director General Abdrrizak M. Ahamed has requested Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry to share information regarding how it defeated the Sea Tigers.
The Sea Tigers were a crucial part of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) army that was defeated by the government in 2009 after a brutal three decade war.
Senaratne praised the Sri Lankan defence forces and pointed out that cooperation with Somalia was necessary to get the release of six fishermen held by pirates on ransom demands.
"I have done everything possible to obtain their release but it is not possible unless Sri Lanka also cooperates with Somalia to share military strategies," he told the parliament.
It has been calculated that the total costs involved with the presence of the international naval force around Somalia is 300 million U.S. dollars annually.
The United Nations states that the total cost caused by Somali pirates is over 3 billion U.S. dollars annually.
Source: Xinhua