There is a possibility that Maltese soldiers would serve on ships from EU member states in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said said.

Dr Said said Maltese personnel may also help train the Somali law and order forces.

In all cases, he said, the purpose of Malta's participation would be to help in crisis management. Such operations would be under EU control with the Maltese authorities retaining over authority over the Maltese soldiers.

Malta is already participating in the anti-piracy operations through the deployment of an AFM officer in the operational command centre in Northwood, near London.

Dr Said told timesofmalta.com that Malta had two interests in this issue. The first was that Maltese-flagged ships had been among vessels that were taken over by pirates.

Secondly, he said, the training of the Somali military would help to bring stability to this country.

"It must be remembered that the majority of migrants who come to Malta do so because of the state of instability and anarchy in Somalia," Dr Said told timesofmalta.com.

He said the training of the Somali personnel would also be an EU operation. The training would take place in Uganda.

In both cases, Dr Said said, the matters were under consideration and no decisions had been taken yet.