Somali President asks French for troops, naval help

PARIS (Reuters) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf asked France on Monday for military help to calm the chaos that has reigned in his country for almost two decades.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Paris would offer logistical and maritime support as part of international efforts to combat piracy along the Horn of Africa, but ruled out sending any ground troops.

Yusuf, who met President Nicolas Sarkozy, told reporters he had requested French help on "the sea and on the ground, because the situation in Somalia really calls for security cooperation."

Kouchner said France had already trained 2,000 soldiers in Burundi and transported them to Somalia, "but at the moment there is no question of putting (French) troops on the ground."

France has pushed for an international initiative to crack down on piracy after its troops captured six pirates who had hijacked a yacht carrying French citizens off the Somali coast in April.

Asked about allegations made on a French magazine's Web site that most of the captured pirates were members of his extended family, Yusuf said only that he knew all six were from his region.

"Whether they are from my family or another, I am for justice... they committed a crime and they must pay."

(Reporting by Brian Rohan; Editing by Richard Balmforth)