"We have the means," Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told his visiting French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.

"If we don't have coordination, we risk a naval battle," he quipped.

The European Union, the US and several other countries all have ships patrolling the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa where 24 pirate attacks have been registered since January, three of them successful.

Attacks have led some shipping companies to avoid the route and, at greater cost, sail around Africa instead.

Countries interested in creating a coordinating mechanism are expected to meet Monday in London, diplomatic sources say.

Besides its strategic location, the tiny east African country has another asset.

"Countries all around are in conflict, more or less, and Djibouti is a safe place," Kouchner said.

Nearby Yemen has also indicated its interest in anti-piracy coordination.

Separate plans to establish an information-sharing centre among neighbouring states have yet to get beyond the discussion stage, a French diplomat said.

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