'Give us resources to pursue pirates'

Nairobi: The US pressed Somalia to root out the pirates menacing the seas off the Horn of Africa, and its prime minister said he could go after them if other nations give him the resources he needs.

That could open the way for more missions to hunt down the pirates inside the lawless country - actions that have been authorised by the United Nations but rarely carried out.

Prime Minister Omar Abdul Rashid Ali Sharmarke said that his piracy-fighting plan will be ready next week in time for an international conference on Somalia in Brussels.

On Thursday, a US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Somali pirate captured during the standoff over an American ship's captain taken hostage will be brought to New York to face trial.

The suspect, identified as Abdul Wal-i-Musi, was taken aboard a US Navy ship shortly before Navy Seal snipers killed the three remaining pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat launched from his cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama.

The international community is grappling with how to confront escalating attacks off the Horn of Africa by larger, bolder and better-armed pirate gangs who menace one of the world's busiest sea routes - especially after Philips' dramatic rescue after being held for five days by pirates.

Phillips, of the US-flagged Maersk Alabama cargo ship, reached port Thursday in Mombasa, Kenya, aboard the USS Bainbridge, hours after his crew held a joyous reunion with their families at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.

Phillips left the Bainbridge early Friday, and without speaking with reporters, boarded a private executive jet and flew toward the US.

He was expected to reach home in Vermont for a reunion with family and friends after a flight of several hours.

In Nairobi, Sharmarke and the president of the semiautonomous Puntland region met with US diplomats including the ambassador to Kenya.

"We want to press them to take action against these pirates who are operating from their territory," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. He said the US was willing to help but has not decided how best to do so.

Sharmarke's government is willing to share information that could boost the new US initiative.

The international community expects to raise at least $262 million at a donors conference next week to bolster Somalia's fledgling security forces in their struggle against militants and pirate gangs, officials said yesterday.

The conference next Wednesday and Thursday will be held under the auspices of the European Union and the United Nations, EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will attend, along with top EU officials, and the heads of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League.

Gallach said the commanders of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia and the EU anti-piracy flotilla operating off the Somali coastline will take part in the meeting.

Somalia has been wracked by violence for nearly 20 years and its Western-backed government wields little control outside the capital of Mogadishu, which is patrolled by African peacekeepers.

Pirate gangs operating along the lawless coastline have become more increasingly audacious over the past two years, hijacking dozens of merchant ships transiting the busy sea lanes around the Horn of Africa. They have reportedly earned huge sums in ransom payments.