[20/March/2010]

MOGADISHU, March 20 (Saba) -- The French navy fleet patrolling the pirate-infested Somali coast on Saturday handed over suspected six pirates to the local authorities in the semi- autonomous region of Puntland, regional officials said, according to Xinhua.

The French navy handed over the six men to local anti-piracy units off the northeastern port city of Bossaso, the commercial capital of the self-government state, Yusuf Ahmed Khayr, regional security minister told reporters.

The regional official said that the men and their equipment were handed over to local anti-piracy task force and would be tried in local courts.

Authorities in Puntland and the French navy had an agreement regarding the transfer of captured pirates to local security forces for trail in accordance with local laws.

The French navy and a number of other navy forces from other countries have previously handed over dozens of suspected pirates to local authorities in Puntland, hotbed of piracy in the horn of Africa country of Somalia.

Meanwhile local court in the region have given nearly 20 suspected pirates prison terms of 6 years each after they were convicted of piracy activities in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, a region known for being rife with pirates.

Local courts have previously given varies prison sentences to captured suspected pirates.

Nearly 20 years of anarchy in Somalia led to the spread of the menace of buccaneering in the waters off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, an importunate international waterway.

Saba