Israel to set Naval Base to fight Somali Piracy

According to news reported on SBC, which is one of the most reliable Somali websites this morning, the Transport Minister of Israel Mr. Yisrael Katz has publicly stated that his country has set up a naval base in order to fight against Somali piracy.

The Minister said that Israel has spent 4 Million USD in order to establish this base and that they were working on it for quite sometime. But he didn't disclose where it is exactly located. According to the report this base would be now fully operational.

There is speculation going on according to which this base could be located inside the French base in the UAE, recently inaugurated by President Sarkozy of France. The Minister did also not disclose how many Israeli warships will undertake this task but he underlined that they have mainly re-recruited their former navy personnel who went on pension. Their new operation will not be limited to the escort of their commercial vessels in the Somali territorial waters but also to assist any vessel in need of assistance if under attack by the so-called Somali pirates.

Their operation will also extend inside the Somali territorial waters (both on the Gulf of Aden and on the Indian Ocean) search and rescue operations in assistance of any vessel that develops mechanic failure or any other normal accident, since the ongoing huge international naval patrol doesn't provide for any normal search and rescue operation.

Source: Ecoterra, June 20, 2009

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