Cooperative, Collective Action Needed To Resolve Piracy - Minister

LANGKAWI (Malaysia), Dec 7 (Bernama) -- Pirates are now well organised and backed by an elaborate network of financiers, planners and ring leaders and, therefore, the issue of piracy can only be resolved through cooperative and collective action, Defence Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Tuesday. He said that in the late 1990s and in the early part of this century, armed robberies were reported in the South China Sea and the straits of Melaka and Singapore. Through a series of measures, developed and implemented with the cooperation and support of the littoral states, there has been a significant reduction in these incidents, he said. Dr Ahmad Zahid said the Melaka Strait Patrols (MSP), jointly launched in 2004 by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, was indeed a significant measure. "Above all, it is a clear manifestation of the close cooperation among the littoral states in ensuring the security of one of the busiest straits in the world -- the Strait of Melaka. "Unfortunately, the problem now manifests itself in other parts of the world, most notably but not exclusively off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean," he said in his welcoming address at the Chief of Navy Roundtable Talks, here. The talks, entitled "Maritime Security in the Gulf of Aden: Enhancing Collaboration and Cooperation", are being held as one of the programmes of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2011 (LIMA '11). Dr Ahmad Zahid said piracy off the coast of Somalia was essentially a symptom of the political problems of countries manifesting at sea. "Somalia itself has claimed that the origin of this piracy can be traced to illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste by other countries in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)," he said. Six navy chiefs, 14 representatives of navy chiefs and 249 government agency and defence industry representatives from the country and abroad took part in the roundtable talks. The issues for discussion covered cooperation in anti-piracy operations implemented in the Gulf of Aden by the relevant countries. The discussions also included enforcement of international maritime laws in fighting piracy off Somalia and on the measures to help the transitional government of Somalia. Meanwhile, Chief of Navy Abdul Aziz Jaafar, in his closing speech, said the transitional government of Somalia needs to be assisted for it to be able to maintain peace and stability and to create the conditions for a durable eradication of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia. "We have also recognised that success against piracy requires continuous coordination among navies, agencies and other stakeholders, essentially by exchange of information in optimising our efforts and achieving a high level of effectiveness," he said. -- BERNAMA