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BRUSSELS (AFP) — European foreign ministers on Monday agreed to set up a "coordination unit" to help tackle the growing problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia, with the possibility of an EU naval mission in future.

"The resources of piracy have developed horrendously," said Bernard Kouchner, foreign minister of France which holds the EU's rotating presidency, speaking of very mobile, hi-tech operations involving small and large boats.

"We are responding to a call from the UN Security Council which called for international protection," said Kouchner.

"So far only Spain and France have responded," he added.

The 27 EU ministers stressed their concern at the "acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast" and decided "to establish, in the next few days, a coordination unit in Brussels with the task of supporting the surveillance and protection activities carried out by some member states" off the coast.

The ministers, meeting in Brussels, also approved a "strategic military option for a possible European Union naval operation," in the area.

The ministers "would like to see the current planning work press ahead," they added in a joint statement.

A flurry of attacks by Somali pirates is wreaking havoc with maritime traffic in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean amid complicated negotiations over the release of two kidnapped French sailors.

Spanish ships have also been targeted and the Spanish fishing fleet in the area has decided to move further out to sea. …

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