Yemen tries 22 Africans

ADEN, July 02 (Saba) - 22 Somali people appeared in a Yemeni court
Wednesday, facing piracy and burglary charges.

Yemeni prosecution accuses 10 of the group of attacking ships and
hijacking them in the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden.

While the others face charges related to attempted piracy.

During the preliminary hearing, chair of the al-Towahi court in Aden
province, asked the lawyer of the defendants to file a brief asking
the prison administration to allow them to call their families.

Earlier, the administration of the prison where the 22 Somalis were
taken after international forces patrolling the Indian Ocean on
anti-piracy mission seized them in the Aden Gulf, banned Africans
from telephoning their relatives.

The hearing was adjourned two weeks later, a delay which came due to
the lack of translators for the accused.

The court then filed a brief to the Justice Ministry requesting to
provide people to translate for the accused when hearing accusations
and reply.

Translators must visit the court from the next hearing.

Last month, international forces, believed to be French , handed
over the Yemeni authorities a number of Somali pirates who were
arrested while trying to take over ships.

On Tuesday, Arab countries overlooking the Red Sea and the Arabian
Gulf states approved an Arab anti-piracy taskforce to be set up.
Duties and the size of the taskforce will be revealed in the next
few months.

The decision was made when senior experts of foreign ministries and
marine leaders from the concerned states met in Riyadh to tackle
piracy.

The countries included Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Djibouti as well
as the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Piracy off Somalia has soared in recent years, threatening one of
the world's busiest waterways. In the last few years, more than 120
ships were attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, with more
than 40 of the ships already hijacked.

World countries particularly those whose ships pass through the
regional sea routes have sent anti-pirate missions.