The Hindu : Front Page : No takers for seized pirates

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Monday, Dec 15, 2008
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No takers for seized pirates

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The Navy is saddled with two-dozen pirates it captured in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday with no country willing to take them into custody till reports last came in.

India has now approached Yemen asking whether it would like to prosecute the pirates in line with its commitment on anti-piracy operations in the area.

Besides, according to the Navy, 11 of the pirates are from Yemen. The remaining 12, arrested by the Navy while responding to a distress call from a merchant vessel, are Somalis.

But with the State virtually non-existent and the political crises having deepened with the President of Somalia firing his government, there are no official takers in Somalia.

The subject was the focus of discussions at a roundtable on anti-piracy operations in Manama on Saturday to which India was invited.

The consensus that emerged was that there was no enabling provision in the international law to deal with a situation where pirates are arrested in the international waters.

During operations earlier, INS Tabar had once fended off two piracy bids. In either case, there were no arrests.

Now, its successor INS Mysore has to carry the pirates on board till a country accepts them for prosecution.

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