Another day, another summit for Cameron... that's FIVE in the last fortnight, and THREE this week alone



David Cameron hosted yet another ‘summit’ meeting in London yesterday, this time on the terror threat posed by the ‘failed’ African state of Somalia.



It was the third summit this week and the fifth in a fortnight on subjects as diverse as homophobia in football, the soaring cost of car insurance and how to encourage entrepreneurs.



The frequency of these heavily-publicised events has led some critics to suggest they are as much about public relations than genuine political action.



Warning: British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) met U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton today during the conference on Somalia at Lancaster House in London

Plans have been drawn up to send a Royal Navy aircraft carrier to fight pirates and terrorists in Somalia. HMS Ocean (pictured) is believed to be the most likely

Cameron stressed that any British involvement in Somalia would be limited – for now – to backing the African Union force currently fighting the Islamist militias who have brought chaos to the country.



However, even this modest pledge brought threats of recriminations from Al Qaeda-linked militants there.



The Islamist group al-Shabbab, who control large swathes of the country, warned they would launch terrorist attacks on UK targets if Britain gets sucked into the conflict in the Horn of Africa.



Mr Cameron has ordered plans be drawn up to deploy Apache helicopter gunships from helicopter carrier HMS Ocean against Somali pirates and terrorists.



But Sheikh Ali Dhere a spokesman for the militants – who recently joined with Al Qaeda – told Channel 4 News: ‘Your peace depends upon us being left alone. If you do not let us live in peace, you will not enjoy peace either.’



Militants: Radical Islamist group al Shabaab still controls much of south Somalia

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, left, and EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, right, talk to the press in Brussels about issues facing Somalia ahead of the international summit

BRITAIN JOINS FORCES TO TACKLE SOMALI PIRATES

British officials said the Foreign Secretary had signed a memorandum of understanding with Tanzania for Somalia to take suspected pirates captured by Royal Navy warships and put them on trial in their courts. Mauritius has also indicated that it is prepared to sign up to a similar agreement. Meanwhile, breakaway state Somaliland has said it is prepared to take pirates into its jails who are currently being held in the Seychelles. The first 19 will be transferred next month.

Another terrorist leader boasted that al-Shabbab’s links with Al Qaeda mean it can launch retaliatory strikes in the UK.

‘We welcome the pledge between our mujahidin (holy warriors) and the international mujahidin, Al Qaeda,’ said Sheikh Abdulqadir Mumin.



‘Our unity means we can fight our enemies – the infidels –wherever they are.’



The international conference was called by the Prime Minister to try to focus international attention on a country blighted by two decades of chaos, violence and famine.



Mr Cameron, who did not rule out military action in the future, was hosting his third summit in the space of just four days.



On Monday, he spoke to health experts about NHS reforms while on Wednesday he hosted a conference about bigotry in football.



Guarded: Foreign Secretary William Hague, pictured in the Somalian capital Mogadishu last month, has announced that Britain will fund a new £550,000 intelligence centre in the Seychelles to co-ordinate action against Somali pirates

When asked about air strikes on the African state, he said: ‘There, of course, has to be military pressure on al-Shabbab. This is not about western troops getting involved in another country, it’s about the world coming together to support Somalia.’

Mr Cameron came under pressure to launch ‘targeted’ air strikes from Somalia’s acting Prime Minister Abdiweh Mohamed Ali.

He said: ‘We welcome targeted air strikes against Al Qaeda in Somalia. However the protection and safety of life and property of the Somali people is very important.

‘This menace of Al Qaeda in Somalia is not a Somali problem, it’s a global problem.’

Mr Cameron has been warned by intelligence chiefs that young British Somalis are travelling to their homeland to receive terrorist training before coming back to Britain.

The UK is also to provide a further £51million over the next three years to support Somalia refugees who fled the country for neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia.

After the summit, Mr Cameron said the ‘ultimate ambition’ was to end the lucrative trade in kidnappings and piracy in the region.

Over the past five years it is estimated that pirates have collected more than £160million – with individual payouts now averaging £3 million.



Mr Cameron also announced plans for a new international task force to tackle the problem.

The UK signed deals with Tanzania, Mauritius and the Seychelles to try pirates seized by British warships operating in the waters off Somalia. Somaliland and Puntland both agreed to jail pirates found guilty.

Mr Cameron won support to enhance international co-operation on illegal financing in order to ‘prosecute the kingpins of piracy’.

Britain, the U.S., Germany, Australia, Italy and the Netherlands all agreed to work together to draw up plans to get an international agreement to stop people paying ransom demands made by pirates.

About 25 warships from various nations now patrol the Indian Ocean at any given time.

Some states – such as Russia – have always adopted an aggressive approach when their ships were hijacked, storming them with force and either killing the pirates or leaving them to die in open boats.