SA Navy asked to help fight pirates

Tue, 2008-08-19 21:02 by admin

But red tape keeps ships sitting safely at home

Bobby Jordan and Anton Ferreira
Published: Aug 18, 2008 by The Times, South Africa

UN wants controversial new corvettes to guard food aid to Horn of Africa

THE World Food Programme has asked South Africa to use its new corvettes to escort emergency aid shipments to Somalia past a gauntlet of pirates.

The first shipment of food bought by the UN agency in South Africa for the Horn of Africa is due to be loaded in Durban at the end of the month.

But the request for the escorts—which would be making their first sortie into hostile waters—appears to be tangled in red tape. …

Somali