(CNSNews.com) – Shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday – about an hour after President Obama refused to comment on the hijack of a U.S.-flagged tanker off Somalia -- the U.S. State Department held a briefing for reporters.
 
Spokesman Robert A. Wood (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not there) told reporters that piracy is a concern for all nations. He mentioned a U.N. Security Council resolution that “authorizes countries to do what they can to suppress piracy.”
 
“Our militaries – the U.S. military and the militaries of other countries are cooperating, trying to see what we can do to prevent these types of piracy acts from happening. But, this is going to take time,” Wood said. “We are all working very closely to try to do what we can,” he added.
 
Wood said the current hijacking shows the importance of “working with all of our partners.” He also talked about “some mechanisms in place” and the effort “to try to develop other mechanisms to deal with the question.”
 
“We do not negotiate with terrorists,” Wood told a reporter, but he did not answer a question on whether pirates are terrorists. “I don’t want to talk about what we may or may not do with this particular case.”
 
As for the instability and chaos in Somalia, Wood said, “We’ve been trying to provide support for the transitional government there; we’ve encouraged others to do so…but this is a question for the entire international community to deal with...”
 
President Barack Obama on Thursday refused to answer questions about the hostage situation off the coast of Somalia.
 
The president was asked about the incident as he met with U.S. homeowners to discuss refinancing mortgages. At the close of the White House event, the president was asked by a reporter if he was concerned about the piracy incident.
 
Obama responded: "Guys, we're talking about housing right now."
 
Reporters were then ushered out of the room as they usually are after such events.
 
As of midday Thursday, Obama had not yet commented publicly on the incident.

(The Associated Press provided the information about Obama's refusal to comment.)