The UK is to provide the director and fund the construction of a new Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecutions Intelligence Co-ordination Centre (RAPPICC), based in the Seychelles.
The RAPPICC will co-ordinate and analyse intelligence to inform tactical law enforcement options, including the turning of intelligence into useable evidence for prosecutions both in the region and further afield. Additional action by the IMO and the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia will ensure that shipping travelling through the Gulf of Aden has access to the best and most up-to-date advice on how to help tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia.
"The establishment of a new intelligence co-ordination centre will allow the international community to target the king-pins of piracy and ensure piracy does not pay," said British foreign secretary William Hague. "The UK is able to provide the first Director and £550,000 to fund the construction of the RAPPICC, which will be operational in time for the seasonal increase in pirate activity. The Seychelles and Dutch governments, as well as INTERPOL, have made commitments to support this centre, and I hope that others will follow their lead.
"The UK will also provide GBP150,000 (US$235,000) to support for the UN Political Office for Somalia in creating a pilot maritime security coordination office in a stable region within Somalia. The office will help to ensure greater coordination of counter-piracy activity on the ground to maximise the impact of the international community's efforts."
