Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Tanzania has become a difficult place for terrorism perpetrators, narcotics traffickers and pirates to operate, partly due to the American government's support to build up the capacity of the country’s security forces, President Jakaya Kikwete said here Monday. “Terrorists who pass through here have been apprehended. We have caught a number of them,” the president added without going into details. Addressing a joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Kikwete disclosed that there had been 27 piracy encounters in the Tanzanian waters since March 2010. “The problem used to be in the Horn of Africa, but now it is moving south,” said the president, noting that this year alone the Tanzanian navy had reported 14 incidents.

According to Kikwete, 13 of the incidents were attempts to hijack ships. “They [pirates] succeeded in four and our navy rescued two ships. We were able to apprehend 11 pirates and they are now in our courts,” he said.

”We are still looking into possibilities of getting lead ships so that we’ll be able to go into deeper waters. If we get big ships, we should be able to take care of our territorial waters,” he explained.

Kikwete assured the Secretary of State that Tanzania would continue to work with the US for peace and development in Africa and the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Clinton wound up her three-day official visit to Tanzania, stating that Washington’s commitment to the East African country “is so strong because the US and Tanzania have a deep partnership that is united by mutual respect, mutual interests, but most of all by shared values and the aspirations for a more peaceful and prosperous future.”

“We respect Tanzania’s record of democratic progress which is making a model for the region and beyond. We’ll continue to support you and your country because you’re making a real difference,” Clinton told Kikwete, adding: “I want to thank you for your work in increasing economic integration towards creating a future, larger trading area from Cape Town to Cairo.”

On Sunday, Kikwete joined other regional leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa, to sign a pact on the establishment of Tripartite Free Trade Area, comprising 26 member countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC).

On the unsettled question of Abiye Region between North and South Sudan, Clinton stated: “The United States strongly believes that a robust peacekeeping presence should be a central part of the security arrangements in Abiye. The Government of Sudan should facilitate a viable security arrangement starting with the withdrawal of its forces from the region.”

Clinton has since gone to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Pana 13/06/2011