US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen have agreed to seek authority for NATO to arrest pirates off the coast of Somalia.

FBI agents escort the Somali pirate U.S. officials identified as Abduhl Wali-i-Musi into FBI headquarters in New York on Monday, April 20, 2009. Abduhl Wal-i-Musi is the sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of commercial ship captain Richard Phillips.[Louis Lanzano/AP Photo]

Following their meeting, Clinton told reporters at the State Department the US will seek more effective ways to hold pirates criminally responsible for their actions. She says the pirates not only threaten the lives of merchant seamen, but also the security of critical maritime routes.

Clinton says representatives of 24 nations are expected to attend a New York meeting in early May to work out legal measures against the piracy off Somalia.

Meanwhile, Somalian President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed says his country could stop three-quarters of the pirate attacks off its coast within one year with enough money. He hopes to raise 165 million US dollars to build security forces to battle the pirates.

(CCTV April 22, 2009)