Obama vows to halt Somali piracy

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-14-2009 09:48

US President Barack Obama has vowed to halt piracy off the Horn of Africa, a day after the US Navy rescued an American captain from Somali pirates.

Obama praised the military's rescue efforts. He says the US will continue to work with its partners to prevent future attacks by Somali pirates. The US-flagged cargo ship, Maersk Alabama, was attacked by pirates off the Somali coast on Wednesday and the ship's captain was taken hostage.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (L) and United  States Marine Corps (USMC) Gen. James Cartwright, vice  chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hold a news  conference at the Pentagon April 6, 2009 in Arlington,  Virginia. The Somali pirates who kidnapped Captain  Richard Phillips were heavily armed but inexperienced  youths, Gates said, adding that the hijackers were aged 17-19.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Chip Somodevilla)

He was freed five days later in a US Navy operation which killed three of his captors. The White House is calling on other nations and the shipping industry to look at ways to make commercial traffic less vulnerable.

Editor:Zhang Yun