The Tribune

ACTING Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Tom Kelly arrives in the Bahamas today for high level talks aimed at strengthening counter-piracy co-operation.

According to the US Embassy, his three-day visit will feature discussions with senior officials on a wide range of political-military issues and see the launch a series of information sharing and technical assistance agreements to meet shared security challenges through strengthened military and law enforcement co-operation.

On Tuesday, Mr Kelly and local officials will sign a new Memorandum of Understanding on Counter-Piracy, which will establish new co-operative mechanisms for the prosecution of suspected pirates.

“As the 2013 chair of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, the United States welcomes this new agreement with the Bahamas, which is a major flag registry state, as well as a source of mariners working in the global shipping industry,” said the embassy in a statement.

Acting Assistant Secretary Kelly will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the Co-operative Situational Information Integration initiative.

This agreement will support improved regional domain awareness and information sharing among participating Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) partners and citizen security efforts against transnational threats such as illicit trafficking.

According to a report by Quartz News, with the success of the international crackdown on pirates off the coast of Somalia, the United States government is now looking to get countries with a large ship registry to become more involved.

“The need for the Bahamas to do more became apparent in January 2012 when the MV Sunshine was raided by pirates in the Arabian Sea, and US commandos rescued the ship and captured 15 Somalis,” the report said.

“The ship was Bahamian-flagged, but the Nassau government wasn’t prepared to arrest, prosecute and try the pirates. The men were ultimately convicted in the Seychelles, and Washington and Nassau have been working together ever since on a memorandum of understanding that will be signed next week.

“What’s in the document isn’t yet public, but it apparently includes non-binding (and very general) provisions for better consultation—and technical cooperation—so that the Bahamas is prepared to deal with the next boatful of pirates caught hijacking a Bahamian-owned or flagged ship.”

Tom Kelly, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, joined the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in August 2011.

As Acting Assistant Secretary, he oversees overall bureau operations and directly supervises the Office of Security Negotiations and Agreements; the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Piracy and Maritime Security; and the Office of the Co-ordinator for the Foreign Policy Advisors Programme.

While in Nassau, he will also attend an official celebration of the Bahamas’ 40th Anniversary of Independence.