Help us build a coast guard, pleads Somali diplomat

China has done an excellent job protecting and rescuing ships in the Gulf of Aden for the last 12 months, but the threat from pirates off the coast of east Africa has in no way diminished, said Mohammed Awil, the Somali ambassador to China.

Awil said international help to build a Somali navy was the only way to truly rid the country's waters of vicious hijackers.

"Some foreign ships are there for their own nation's purposes but our Chinese friends are not. They have done a good job," he told China Daily on the eve of the first anniversary of the Chinese navy's departure on Dec 26. "We appreciate it. China is helping and supporting. For all the merchant vessels, whatever flag they fly, as soon as they get an urgent call or they see (an attack), they act immediately."