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The hardline Islamic authorities in the southern Somali port of Kismayo vowed to forge an unlikely alliance by joining the efforts of the Nato and European Union naval task forces patrolling the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden.
"We will set up marine forces and will protect all ships and vessels from the pirates off the coastal areas we control," said Sheikh Hasan Yaqub, a spokesman for the Islamist administration in Kismayo.
"We will never allow those gangs to cause havoc in our waters anymore and we will protect all vessels."
Kismayo, one of the largest cities in Somalia, was captured in August by an alliance of Islamist fighters - who are conquering much of the country - and the warlord Hassan al-Turki, the leader of a group called al-Itihaad al-Islamiya which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US government.
Sheikh Yaqub told AFP that on Wednesday alone, 20 small ships bringing goods from the United Arab Emirates had offloaded their cargo in Kismayo under the watch of the local authorities' security forces.
Omar Abdiyare, one of the Somali traders whose vessel arrived in Kismayo, said local businesses had asked the Islamist rulers to set up an anti-piracy force.
"We are very concerned at the growing number of attacks by pirates so we asked Islamists to protect our ships as much as possible off the coastal areas they control," he said.
The Kismayo administration has imposed a very strict form of Sharia law in recent weeks. Under Islamic law, piracy is punishable by death.
Most Somali pirates operate from ports located further north along the country's coastline, particularly Eyl and Harardhere, off which the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star is anchored.
The ship's owners are reported to be negotiating with the pirate crew that seized it on Saturday. It is not yet known what ransom has been demanded for the release of the vessel, its cargo of more than £60 million of crude oil, and its crew of 25, including two Britons.
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