French navy hands over suspected pirates to Somalia

By Abdiqani Hassan

BOSSASO, Somalia (Reuters) - French navy officers handed over 22 suspected Somali pirates to semi-autonomous Puntland's authorities and they will be arraigned in local courts, officials said on Saturday.

Foreign navies have been deployed off the Gulf of Aden since the start of 2009, operating convoys, establishing safer corridors through the most dangerous waters and arresting pirates and seizing their vessels.

"The French navy handed over these pirates, two skiff boats and video evidence showing the kind of weapons they were carrying," Mohamed Sicid Jaqanaf, Puntland's deputy police commissioner, told a news conference at the Bossaso port while receiving the suspects.

"This video shows their intention was not fishing...or other civilian work. They (the French) threw the confiscated weapons and ammunition into the ocean. The pirates will be taken to court soon."

Jaqanaf did not specify what weapons the pirates had.

The French frigate spotted and seized the suspected pirates 85 miles (140 km) off the Mogadishu coast last week.

"There are two underage boys, whom the French said they were not sure what activities they were engaged in. They were arrested on a separate boat, and we will investigate further," Jaqanaf said.

International navies trying to stamp out piracy off Somalia often are reluctant to take suspects to their own countries because they either lack the jurisdiction to put them on trial there, or they fear the pirates may seek asylum.