FCO minister meets Congolese women protestors
Thursday, 20 Nov 2008 10:57
A Congo protestor in Mirunga 1 camp yesterday
In Focus
Day-by-day updates on the situation in Georgia, as Russia continues to raise the diplomatic states over the future of its breakaway provinces. Full Story
Growing piracy problems around the Horn of
Africa and Gulf of Aden could worsen dramatically if instability in Yemen continues into the future, a report warns today.
Ginny Hill's report for Chatham House warns a failure to tackle the problems facing this "weak and incomplete state" could create a lawless region stretching from northern Kenya to Saudi Arabia.
As a result piracy, smuggling and violent jihad could flourish, the report warns.
Somalia is already a hotbed of piracy, as seen by the hijacking of the Sirius Star supertanker this week.
As private interests in Yemen provide weapons for Somali warlords and do not have any motivation for ending piracy, the problem will not go away in a hurry.
"Yemen's window of opportunity to shape its own future and create a working post-oil economy is narrowing as oil production falls closer to consumption levels," Ms Hill writes.
"The scale of the problem and the speed of action required pose a challenge both to the international community and to advocates of reform within Yemen."
Current efforts by the international community addressing the piracy problem focus on limiting its impact rather than focusing on its underlying causes.
Today Russia announced it would send more warships to the region in a bid to solve "out of control" naval security for commercial vessels operating there.