Somalia: World can use force against pirates

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somalia will allow foreign powers to use force if necessary against pirates who are holding a ship loaded with tanks for $20 million ransom, raising the stakes for bandits who are facing off against the United States and soon Moscow on the high seas.

Last week's hijacking of the Ukrainian ship MV Faina -- carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, rifles and heavy weapons -- was the highest profile act of piracy in the dangerous waters off Somalia this year. The ship is surrounded by several U.S. warships and American helicopters are buzzing overhead.

Moscow also sent a warship to protect the few Russian hostages on board, but it will take a week to arrive off the coast of central Somalia, where the Faina has been anchored since Thursday. Most of the 20 crew are Ukrainian or Latvian; one Russian has died, apparently of illness.

And at least eight European Union countries want to join an international operation to protect shipping from pirates off Somali, according to France's defense minister.

"The international community has permission to fight with the pirates," Mohammed Jammer Ali, the Somali Foreign Ministry's acting permanent director, said Wednesday.

He said negotiations between the ship's Ukrainian owners and the pirates were taking place by telephone, but "no other side is involved in negotiations."

Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf, also urged foreign nations to help Somalis fight piracy.

"The government has lost patience and now wants to fight pirates with the help of the international community," he said Wednesday in a radio address.

In the past, the U.S. military has launched air strikes in Somalia and is known to have secretly sent special forces into Somalia to go after militants linked to al-Qaida.

In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on any possible military operations but said the U.S. was continuing to monitor the situation and remains concerned that the cargo not fall into the wrong hands.

Whitman would not give details of any new or existing agreement the U.S. has with the Somalis.

The U.S. "works closely with its partners in the region to identify, locate, capture and if necessary kill terrorists where they operate, plan their operations or seek save harbor," he said.