Not so Jolly Roger

It's hard dealing with pirates off Somalia:

Fighting between the government and the country's infamous insurgent groups has forced hundreds of thousands of Somalis from their homes, including Mogadishu, the capital. And drought in the countryside has led to one of the poorest harvests in years, forcing aid groups to prepare to feed more than a million people in the coming months.

The best way to deliver the food is by freighter, but for shipping companies, the waters off Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world.

"The pirate situation in Somalia is extremely worrying to us," says Peter Smerdon of the UN's World Food Program (WFP) in Nairobi...

The situation is so dire that, on Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at the United Nations that France is prepared to send a warship to the region for two months to protect WFP deliveries. And this week a six-vessel North Atlantic Treaty Organization flotilla, including the frigate HMCS Toronto, is patrolling the Somali coast...

The simple solution would seem to be naval protection for the aid's three-day journey from Mombasa to Somalia. But any warships in the area are usually looking for terrorists, not pirates. Last year, crew from the USS Winston S. Churchill captured a gang of Somalis, but the encounter was accidental. More often, naval vessels fail to respond to pleas from ships under attack because of legal issues.

Engaging suspected pirates at sea is not something a country takes lightly. Officials must confirm that a criminal act has been committed in international waters and receive political approval to act, which can take hours. If, in that time, pirates reach the 12-mile limit of Somali territorial waters, foreign vessels cannot follow without permission from Mogadishu, which the government has yet to grant...

Dealing with pirates isn't an official part of the mission, says Lieutenant-Commander Angus Topshee, the ship's executive officer, but the attacks off Somalia are no secret. "The crew is very aware of piracy - we've adopted an unusually high force-protection posture," he says by satellite phone. "Every nation is required under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to repress piracy. ... And I'll be honest: The ship's company would like nothing more than to come across a pirate attack and do something about it."

He, like Mr. Mwangura, realizes pirates know that foreign ships like HMCS Toronto can't enter Somali waters. So, the week of patrolling may just be a dry run for future deployments, something that senior naval officials in several countries seem willing to consider...

It is hoped that, by the time HMCS Toronto and its squadron leave for the Red Sea, a French vessel will be on the scene. But many observers believe that unless there is a forceful, long-term naval presence, the temporary patrols and hand-wringing over legal issues will only embolden the pirates into believing that the West doesn't really care.

"Since the 1990s, I think Somalia has frightened the West, it certainly frightened the Americans, and many countries are just fairly tired of it," says the WFP's Mr. Smerdon. "We're trying to feed people in need, but logistics - delivering food - is not that sexy. There are no blue helmets, no white UN vehicles, no Western troops handing out food to dying people in a war zone. This is nuts-and-bolts work we're doing, but it is among the most vital things the United Nations can do...