The United states of America is asking for an authorisation from the United Nations Security Council resolution to assemble a mission to Somalia to hunt down pirates.
The US hopes that, if adopted, the strategic proposal to hunt pirates on land as well as on sea will limit the growing number of pirate operations in the Gulf of Aden.
Countries that have combined efforts to fight the pirates at sea are not allowed to hunt down Somali pirates on land.
Security Council diplomats say an American-drafted resolution suggests countries should be able to pursue pirates ashore, and in the country’s airspace if necessary, providing the Somali government agrees.
America’s deputy ambassador at the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said that given the threats posed by pirates no stone would be left unturned on this issue.
The draft has been circulated by the US and seen by UN diplomats in New York, but it is not clear how much support this proposal will have as Russia and China are traditionally cautious about interfering in the affairs of other nations.
According to reports, piracy off Somalia’s coastline has long been rife following over 120 attacks reported in 2008, and the UN Security Council have had to pass a resolution allowing countries operating with the consent of Somalia’s transitional government to go into Somalia’s territorial waters and use force to capture pirates.
However, concerned countries fighting piracy along the 3025 kilometre (1,880-miles) Somali coastline need to get approval from the Somali government as well as notify U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before taking action.
US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will be at the UN next Tuesday for a meeting on piracy, and US diplomats hope the resolution will be adopted then.
