U.N. council breaks deadlock on Somalia piracy

DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Members of the U.N. Security Councilhave agreed on the final text of a long-delayed resolution thatgives countries the right to combat piracy off the coast ofSomalia, council diplomats said on Monday.

The resolution could be formally adopted by the SecurityCouncil as early as Monday, diplomats from five of the 15member states told reporters on a flight from Nairobi toDjibouti, where the council was meeting members of Somalia'stransitional government and opposition.

A deal on the resolution was struck on Friday, thediplomats said, after France agreed to accept Indonesia'sdemands that anti-piracy actions undertaken off the coast ofSomalia would not set a precedent for any other country.

"Our concerns have been taken on board," Indonesia'sAmbassador to the United Nations Marty Natalegawa toldreporters.

The resolution, the first draft of which was circulated inApril, is aimed at combating a surge in ship hijackings forransom in the waters off the coast of Somalia that have madethem one of the world's most dangerous shipping zones.

Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf told the council inDjibouti that the resolution should be adopted as quickly aspossible.

"The issue of piracy is beyond our present means andcapabilities," Yusuf said in the written text of a speech hegave to the council. "Hence we would like to request theSecurity Council to urgently adopt the draft resolution."

U.S. envoy Alejandro Wolff said members hoped theresolution would be adopted unanimously later on Monday at U.N.headquarters in New York. He added that the French had "wantedto highlight the scourge of piracy as a global problem."

Council diplomats said the French backed down after facingresistance from the Indonesians, who refused to allow thepossibility that anti-piracy actions by foreign marine orsecurity forces could take place in their coastal waters.

Somalia has been without an effective central governmentsince the 1991 toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Kidnapping and piracy are lucrative businesses and mostSomalis treat their captives well in anticipation of a ransom.

The resolution was officially sponsored by France, theUnited States, Britain and Panama, under whose flag manymerchant ships sail.

Wolff said other concerned countries that are not on thecouncil have signed on as co-sponsors of the resolution,including Japan, South Korea and Spain.

(Editing by Charles Dick)