Fight against maritime piracy - A UN evaluation mission on maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea will visit Libreville, Gabon, 20-22 November, a statement from the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, made available to PANA on Thursday evening, said.

It said the mission would hold a working session with officials from the Economic Community for Central African States (CEEAC) and all the other stakeholders in the fight against maritime piracy.

Four of the countries covered by the regional office - Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe - are affected by piracy.

The delegation will also meet the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the regional office Abou Moussa.

Last week, the mission visited Benin, from where it travelled to Nigeria, where it met with the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and several national authorities.

From Gabon, the UN experts will visit Angola, the headquarters of the Gulf of Guinea Commission, where they will end their mission on 24 November.

The mission is expected to write a report and propose recommendations to curtail maritime piracy, which is having a negative impact on the economy and security of the affected countries.

Pana 18/11/2011