(21 Nov 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of the Intercontinental Hotel
2. Mid of flags outside the Intercontinental Hotel
3. Wide of news conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Moses Wetangula, Kenyan Foreign Minister
"We are advised that in the last twelve months, ransom to the excess of 150 (m) million (US) dollars has been paid to these criminals and that is why they are becoming more and more audacious in their activities and we want in our interactive discussions also to address this issue."
5. Mid of officials
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Moses Wetangula, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Kenya
"Major trading countries - India, Malaysia, China - your vessels are in danger. Our major trading partners - Germany, Britain and others - our cargo is in danger. We must act now and not tomorrow."
7. Pan of delegates and ambassadors
8. Mid of Kenyan delegates
STORYLINE
Kenya's foreign minister said on Friday Somali pirates have collected more than 150 (m) million US dollars in ransoms over the past year.
Moses Wetangula called on ship owners not to pay ransom when their vessels are hijacked off the lawless coast of Somalia because such payments are what have emboldened the pirates.
In their most daring seizure so far, the pirates captured a massive Saudi supertanker loaded with 100 (m) million US dollars worth of crude oil.
Wetangula was speaking during a meeting with diplomats to discuss piracy off the eastern Africa coast.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on pirates, arms smugglers, and perpetrators of instability in Somalia in a fresh attempt to help end lawlessness in the Horn of Africa nation.
Efthimios Mitropoulos, secretary general of the International Maritime Organisation, urged the Security Council to extend its authorisation for ships from countries helping to fight piracy to enter Somalia's territorial waters.
And he urged the council to adopt clear rules of engagement for participating units to facilitate the disruption of pirate operations.
So far this year, he said, more than 120 attacks have been reported off the coast of Somalia, resulting in the seizure of more than 35 ships and the kidnapping of more than 600 crew members who were held for ransom.
Currently, he said, 14 ships and some 280 seafarers are being held hostage in Somalia.
The Somali pirates have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government.
Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea.
They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades - weaponry that is readily available throughout anarchic Somalia.
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