The United States has made no deal with Somalia to run anti-piracy patrols off its coast, a US official said on Tuesday, denying claims by the East African country’s prime minister.
”There is no such deal as alleged,” said the State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ”We haven’t made any arrangement to patrol those waters.”
Somalia’s transitional prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, earlier said he had secured a ”milestone” agreement for US navy ships to patrol the waters where an increasing number of merchant ships have come under attack.
Gedi said that ships from the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, which have already moved against Somali pirates in international waters in the Indian Ocean, would now operate within Somalia’s territorial waters.
”The US navy has agreed to secure Somali waters from illegal fishing, tame activities of pirates and keep a vigil on acts related to terrorism,” Gedi said.
The State Department, in a written reply to a question on Gedi’s comments, said it had not negotiated any agreements with the Somalis to patrol their coastal waters.
But the department added, ”We have held diplomatic discussions with representatives from the transitional federal government concerning a number of areas of possible cooperation, including anti-piracy efforts.”
Spokesperson Sean McCormack also said US forces were generally active in the region conducting counter-terrorism operations and battling pirates. – Sapa-AFP