Somali Foreign Minister, Garaad visits Seychelles to secure the release of Somali prisoners there.

he Somali Foreign Minister, Yusuf Garad Omar discussed with Seychelles issues including maritime security and the cooperation between the two countries to make sure that the ocean is safe for both countries as well as for the international traders who are using the ocean.

He told the press that “piracy is decreasing for many reasons one of which is due to the effort of the regional international forces and institutions working on it.”
Somalia is also working on prosecuting pirates. The Somali government is also committing itself to making sure that we can control our people and coasts,” said the minister. Somalia is looking to work closely with Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian ocean, to help with capacity building and the exchange of information and intelligence on maritime security.

Omar and his delegation called upon the president and vice president after having visited the Seychelles’ main prison on Sunday, where fifteen Somali citizens are being detained in regards to an unconfirmed piracy case.
The fifteen suspected Somali pirates were transferred to Seychelles for possible trial last week after they were caught by an Italian Frigate attacking a container ship and a fishing vessel in the Southern Somali Basin.

“We also discussed the case of the Somali prisoners who are here, people who are convicted of piracy and crimes. We are going to transfer them to Somalia to continue serving their sentence there,” said Omar.