Trust fund to ease local burden of pirate prosecutions

Trust fund to ease local burden of pirate prosecutions    A coalition of countries last week approved the formation of a new United Nations trust fund to help defray the expenses associated with prosecuting Somali pirates, the U.S. State Department said.
   The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, which was formed in January to coordinate naval, judicial and commercial maritime responses to the piracy problem around the Horn of Africa, agreed on the financial aid system during a meeting in New York. Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector will be able to contribute to the trust fund to help countries in the region prosecute pirates captured by multinational forces. The fund will complement an International Maritime Organization fund to help build regional maritime security and judicial capabilities.
   The group made no actual monetary commitments to the fund.
   The Contact Group, which numbers 45 countries, also called for an investigation of the financial systems that accept and hide pirate ransoms.