Yemen to host meeting of States of Djibouti Code of Conduct on piracy
The Source: SANA'A/hadhramaut.info/sabanews.net - 05/11/2010
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Yemen is to host during November 8-10 the regional meeting of member States of Djibouti Code of Conduct to repress piracy acts and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean ,the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. The meeting will be attended by heads of marine bodies in eight countries, which are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, Jordan and UAE as well as Yemen, the host country, and observer countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, France, the European Union (EU) and the European Commission, and a number of experts and specialists from the EU and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations and those agencies involved in combating piracy.Minister of Transport Khalid al-Wazir told Saba that holding this meeting in Yemen is due to the strategic importance of Yemen and its geographic location overlooking the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.Al-Wazir noted that the meeting, organized by the Ministry of Transport and the General Authority for Maritime Affairs, would discuss over three days issues related to the functions of the national centers and the Regional Center for coordination and information sharing in Sana'a, scheduled to be opened officially in 2011.The Regional Center's mechanism and administrative system would be approved in the meeting, as well as the mechanism of cooperation and integration between the Center and the national centers and the representation of regional countries in the Center and the role of the regional centers for search and rescue and the regional training center in Djibouti, al-Wazir pointed out.He indicated that convening the meeting in Yemen comes in light of the ongoing final arrangements for the opening of the Regional Center for coordination and information sharing to combat maritime piracy in Sana'a.In this regard, al-Wazir praised the efforts and support of the EU, the IMO and Japan to the Regional Center and its equipments.Early in last year, 17 countries signed, under the auspices of the IMO, on the Djibouti Code of Conduct, which its draft was submitted by Yemen in Muscat meeting in 2006, and it is expected that Jordan and Oman are to join the Code soon after the completion of their internal procedures for accession.It is noteworthy that this regional meeting is the third one to be held in Yemen to discuss way to combat maritime piracy.
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