Defense Technology International – The Standing NATO Maritime Group will begin anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast in two weeks. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a press conference on 9 October, the first day of an informal meeting of allied defense ministers in Budapest, that NATO ships would escort vessels transporting World Food Program (WFP) aid to Somalia, on the request of the United Nations. He said the NATO warships would also conduct patrols off the Somali coast to deter pirates.
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