THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Dutch prosecutors are dusting off the oldest international felony in their country's books to tackle the 21st-century wave of piracy.

Five Somali pirates will be tried, likely next month, for the 17th-century offense of "sea robbery." The bandits were captured by the Danish navy in January following a failed attack on a Dutch Antilles-flagged cargo ship off Somalia's lawless coast.

Several more piracy suspects are in French jails awaiting trial. And a pirate who surrendered during Sunday's dramatic rescue of the American captain of the Maersk Alabama will be tried in New York, a U.S. official said.

As the international community grapples with the question of how and where to try captured pirates, the Netherlands and France have led the way by prosecuting them in their own courts. However, other countries are wary of hauling in pirates for trial for fear of being saddled with them after they serve out prison terms.

Several countries are now calling for piracy cases to be prosecuted in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa; there is even talk of setting up a special piracy tribunal there akin to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Kenya's foreign ministry confirmed today it is studying a proposal to establish a special piracy tribunal.