The French navy on Wednesday handed over 11 suspected Somali pirates to the Kenyan police, the highest number in a single batch to be received so far.

Kenya's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer Sebson Wandera who received the pirates at the coastal city of Mombasa, said the suspects had been arrested as they attempted to hijack a commercial ship, Safmarine Asia.

"They were arrested by the French navy 600 nautical miles from Mombasa off Somali coast," he told journalists.

Four AK-47 rifles, two skiffs, two engines and several knifes were also handed over to the police and would be produced in court as evidence, he said, adding that the suspects would be charged with the offense on Thursday.

Wandera was speaking aboard the French Frigate vessel, Nivose, which had been used to pursue the pirates. The suspects were handed over by hooded French navy officers who escorted one pirate after another.

A statement from the vessel said the suspects had been " launched" from a mother ship that they also seized.

"The Nivose had spotted the pirates on April 14 when its helicopter helped thwart the commercial ship's hijack," the statement said.

"The ship was also transporting 17 barrels of fuel each with a capacity of 200 litres and the two skiffs."

Wandera said the mother ship, however, sunk in the deep seas after it developed mechanical problems.

In January this year, the United States entered into an agreement with Kenya to hand over suspected pirates to be tried in the country while a similar agreement was entered into between Kenya and the European Union.

Due to increased piracy activities in the Indian Ocean off Somali waters, the international community has deployed war ships in the area to protect commercial ships from being hijacked.

However, there have been security concerns over Kenya taking the role of trying Somali suspects, and questions raised over whether the judicial system is capable of carrying out the prosecutions given the massive backlog of cases in courts.

Somali pirates have made away with millions of dollars in ransom payment and continue to demand more money in return for dozens of ships and overt 200 hostages they are still holing.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2009)