By Daniel Wallis NAIROBI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The growth in piracy off Somalia is being aggravated by the country's feuding politicians and the United Nations should send peacekeepers there quickly, Africa's top diplomat said on Thursday. Gunmen from the chaotic Horn of Africa country grabbed world headlines with Saturday's spectacular capture of a huge Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of oil, the biggest ship hijacking in history. Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, said the increasing piracy was "a clear indication of the further deterioration of the situation with far-reaching consequences for this country, the region and ... international community". Scores of attacks in Somali waters this year have driven up insurance costs for shipping firms, and even made some companies divert cargo around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Military forces from NATO, the European Union and elsewhere are trying to protect vessels using the area -- one of the world's busiest shipping corridors linking Europe to Asia -- but have been unable to stop most attacks. Since seizing the supertanker Sirius Star, Somali gunmen have hijacked a Hong Kong-flagged ship heading for Iran and a Thai fishing boat. East African maritime officials say a third vessel, a Greek carrier, was also taken, but Athens denies it. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday the owners of the Sirius Star were in talks over a possible ransom. The tanker was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya -- far beyond the gangs' usual area of operations. It was believed to be anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that is now a well-defended pirate base. CRIME WAVE The huge ship was carrying as much as 2 million barrels of oil, more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily exports. The audacity of the attack underlined the extent of a crime wave that experts say has been fuelled by an Iraq-style Islamist insurgency onshore, dimming hopes for U.N.-led peace talks, and the lure of multi-million-dollar ransoms. An Indian warship sank a pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday after a brief gun battle, and Moscow has proposed that NATO, the EU and others should launch land raids against the pirates' bases in coordination with Russian forces. Somali gunmen are believed to be holding more than 200 hostages and about a dozen ships in the Eyl area, including a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33 tanks and other heavy weapons. Experts say pessimism over the outlook for peace talks, memories of disastrous interventions in the past and the need to deal with emergencies elsewhere -- from Afghanistan to Congo -- have snuffed out the will to take further action. The AU's Ping strongly endorsed the conclusions of a regional meeting in Ethiopia this week that expressed dismay that Somalia's interim government had still failed to agree on a new cabinet and other steps towards political reconciliation. The Western-backed administration is insisting on U.N. troops to replace a small AU military force. "(Ping) is particularly disturbed by the political impasse and the rift within the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) top leadership," according to an AU Commission statement. "He calls for more sustained and coordinated efforts by the international community to support the peace efforts in Somalia, including the early deployment of U.N. peacekeeping forces."
An anti-government protester lies next to the area struck by a grenade blast at the government house in Bangkok November 20, 2008. A grenade attack on protesters occupying the Thai prime ...
