A European Union anti-pirate flotilla may use force to recapture ships from Somali pirates, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Monday in the East African port of Djibouti, DPA reported. He was speaking one day before a German frigate, the Karlsruhe, leaves Djibouti to join Operation Atalanta, the anti-pirate mission that began earlier this month. Previously Germany has said Atalanta is mainly intended to escort boats carrying aid into Somali ports so that pirates do not steal the cargo. But Jung said the Germans would take the rules of engagement to the limit if need be. He said the authorization was the most robust ever issued to the federal German military abroad, and Germany had commandoes with the skills needed to seize ships. He also said the Germans would not hold pirates indefinitely in the brig of the Karlsruhe, but would ensure those captured were put on trial in Africa or even in Germany in some cases. He was in Djibouti with Jung.
