U.S. vows to fight piracy, curb small arms supply to Africa English.news.cn   2010-12-17 18:19:41 FeedbackPrintRSS ABUJA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government has pledged its commitment to fight piracy and the flow of small arms and weapons to Africa. The fight against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is one of the key priorities on the peace and security agenda of West African states. In a teleconference interview monitored here on Thursday on counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Africa on Thursday, the U. S.Coordinator for Counter-Piracy and Maritime Security, Donna Hopkins, said the fight against arms and weapons was part of U.S. 's strategy to promote stability and improve security in Africa. Hopkins, who spoke against the backdrop of the activities of pirates on the coast of Somalia, said that smuggling of arms into that country had empowered the pirates to perpetrate crime and illegality. She said their activities had made the water unsafe, thereby endangering the economy, trade and direct foreign investment to Somalia and its neighbors. Hopkins observed that the political instability in Somalia was aiding the activities of the pirates, noting that the U.S. government was working with the African Union to enthrone a transitional government in that country. "Until a legitimate government takes control of Somalia, the pirates will continue to operate with impunity and sabotage the economic interest of East Africa and Africa at large," she said. "Piracy is an organized crime which is detrimental to trade and security in Africa. Their activities include kidnapping, arms smuggling, trafficking in persons and drugs. They are also involved in money laundering which could be used to finance terrorism," she added. Hopkins announced that four contact groups including the U.S., UK, Denmark and Egypt were collaborating to combat maritime crime in the gulf of guinea and the coast of Somalia. She listed the areas of collaboration to include ports management, regional capacity building and partnership with shipping companies on protection against piracy among others. Hopkins said the contact groups, established in 2009, had recorded significant achievements, noting that more nations were willing to participate voluntarily. According to her, the main challenge to their efforts to check maritime crime was the lack of resources and direct budget sources for the implementation of their programs. Hopkins said the fight against piracy would require the collaboration and commitment of all nations, stressing that no government would aid and abet piracy. "I don't think there is a lack of will to do this. It is rather expensive. To them, piracy is just another problem to their many problems," she told her audience.  Editor: Mo Hong'e ======================================================