Spain and France will call for an international conference on Somalia as the two European countries step up their joint struggle against terrorism, piracy and drug smuggling, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish prime minister, said on Tuesday.

Mr Zapatero, standing next to Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, after a bilateral summit in Madrid, said the aim was not only to tackle piracy against cargo ships off the Somali coast “which is afflicting both our countries and others”, but also to find a comprehensive solution to Somalia’s broader economic and security problems.