UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Monday called for the establishment of specialized international courts and prisons and new laws to combat Somali pirates.
The council voted unanimously for a Russian drafted resolution to step up the international battle against the growing threat from piracy off the Somali coast.
One of the key elements of the resolution calls for courts to try pirates in a third country outside of Somalia.
Russia's UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, called the third state courts "the first practical step in the direction of setting up an effective judicial mechanism, one capable of a credible reliable solution to the problem of bringing pirates to justice."
Many of the measures in the resolution are based on ideas proposed by Jack Lang, the former French minister who carried out a special study for the United Nations on new legal means to combat piracy.
The council called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon to prepare recommendations on setting up the courts within two months.
Somali pirates have infested the waters of the Gulf of Aden, southwest of the Arabian Sea, making it one of the world's most dangerous waterways.
They are currently holding more than 30 vessels and about 700 hostages who were captured off the coast of Somalia.
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