FG supports EU Somalia anti-piracy force

Fine Gael Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Billy Timmins TD, today announced his party's support for the proposed European Union air and naval force to combat piracy threatening sea lanes off Somalia.

"Piracy has soared off the coast of Somalia, with at least 30 ships hijacked this year, earning an estimated millions in ransom payments and turning the area into the world's most dangerous waterway.

"Such a force will make an important contribution to the World Food Program, to the protection of vulnerable vessels off the coast of Somalia and to the fight against piracy. The World Food Program requires military escorts to bring food aid to the 2.4 million people it feeds in the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

"The sea lane in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal and is critical to Gulf oil shipments."