To create an international task force to discourage the payment of ransoms
The Round Table of international shipping associations (RT) and the SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign (SOS) have sent letters to the British Prime Minister David Cameron (SOS has also sent letters to the Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham and to the Transport Minister Mike Penning) to say that the international shipping organisations that they represent are highly disturbed by statements made earlier this month during the London Somalia Conference by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
They spoke of creating an international task force to discourage the payment of ransoms and eliminate the profit motive, and about admitting the ultimate ambition of stopping ransom payments to pirates and other groups.
(Clinton) “And we welcome the UK’s initiative to create an international task force to discourage the payment of ransoms to pirates and other groups to eliminate the profit motive and prevent the illicit flow of money and its corrosive effects.”
(Cameron) “Let’s create an international taskforce on ransoms. And let’s set the ultimate ambition of stopping these payments because in the end they only ensure that crime pays.”
To see the SOS letter click here
To see the RT letter click here
Source: SaveOurSeafarers
