THE foreign minister of Somalia is urging world powers to do more to fight the root causes of piracy on land rather than try to tackle the problem only at sea.

Mohammed Abdullahi Omar told a counter-piracy conference in Dubai on Monday that pirates are winning despite efforts by foreign nations to contain them

Just managing the problem offshore is no longer a viable option, he said. Omar called on foreign countries to make an "urgent and necessary investment" in Somali security forces to help the country's weak government establish its authority.

Somalia is largely powerless to fight piracy on its own in the impoverished and lawless country because the central government is weak and holds only one half of the country's capital.