EU to begin piracy patrol

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EU to begin piracy patrol
« Thread Started on Dec 8, 2008, 9:09pm »

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EU to begin piracy patrol
Posted: 11:02 AM ET
(CNN) — The European Union will launch its first naval operation Tuesday, protecting vessels from pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, EU policy chief Javier Solana announced Monday.

EU foreign ministers approved the mission during their regular meeting in Brussels on Monday. Solana said the operation is “very important” because EU vessels will be operating “in a place in the world that everybody’s looking at because of the new problems related to piracy.”

The EU naval force will take over the role of escorting United Nations World Food Program vessels carrying food and relief supplies to war-torn Somalia, an EU news release said.

Its mandate, which is spelled out in several U.N. Security Council resolutions, also will include “the protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast, and the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast,” the news release stated.