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US naval leaders seeking to expand African sea police
2008-04-10
Western and African naval leaders have laid plans to expand a multi-national programme to protect and police Africa's coast and maritime resources, during a symposium held in Senegal's capital Dakar. "We are trying to get more European allies involved in the Africa Partnership Station (APS), in its staff, by providing ships or training teams. We want to internationalise this initiative," Admiral Anthony Kurta, head of politics, resources and strategy for American naval forces in Europe, told a press conference after the talks ended on Wednesday. APS was set up by the United States in November 2007 to bring the latest training and techniques to maritime professionals in west and central African countries, to address common threats of illegal fishing, smuggling and human trafficking. To date, it has brought 13 countries into the maritime alliance. Those in Africa are Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and the state of Sao Tome and Principe islands, while Germany, Denmark, Spain, France and Portugal are participating from Europe. Top of the list of problems affecting west and central African countries on the Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea coasts is illegal fishing, which Kurta said costs the local economies, according to some estimates, over a billion dollars (650 million euros) each year. But the APS is also targeting oil theft, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. "For each one of the (member) nations, there is a different priority," Kurta added. Kurta also expressed hopes of extending the initiative to Africa's eastern seaboard on the Indian Ocean. "The Dakar summit allowed us to assess what we've achieved so far and see where we're going with this initiative," said Colonel Ousmane Ibrahima Sall, Senegal's naval chief of staff and a sea captain. "The sea nourishes and unites us more than it divides us, so we must protect our waters from these scourges which presently handicap our countries," he added. In addition to maritime training, APS is slated to perform more than 20 humanitarian projects in the region, according to US naval communications.
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