Canadian Warship to Guard UN Aid Shipments to Somalia

Canada will deploy a frigate to protect Somali-bound UN aid shipments from pirates off the coast of Somalia, the country’s government announced Wednesday. Canadian Defence Minister Peter Gordon MacKay said his country was seeking a formal nod from the interim Somali government before beginning their mission. The UN warned last month that food aid shipments to Somalia were gravely being hampered by marauding Somali pirates and implored foreign governments to provide naval escorts. [PE]