A Kenyan court on Wednesday charged eight Somalis seized during a British naval operation off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa country last week for hijacking a shipping vessel.

The suspects, wearing blue uniforms, pleaded not guilty to the charge of piracy before Mombasa chief magistrate Catherine Mwangi.

Mwangi ordered the men held in detention until their next appearance, which she set for Monday, when she will rule on their bail application. They were represented by public lawyer Alfred Magolo.

According to Kenyan prosecutors, the eight hijacked a Yemen fishing vessel, Waadi Omar 2, on November 9 at 2:00 am in the Gulf of Aden and held its crew hostage until the British navy intervened.

The British navy`s HMS Cumberland captured the men on November 11, still aboard Waadi Omar, as they attempted to hijack a Danish vessel, the MV Powerful.

Several AK-47 rifles, pistols and missile launchers were recovered from the pirates, who also fired at the British ship after it used `non-forcible methods`.

Two pirates were killed in the ensuing exchange.

The suspects were brought to Mombasa by the British Navy on Tuesday after Kenya agreed to prosecute the case as it is party to several international anti-piracy maritime agreements.

This is the second time that Kenyan law has been used against foreigners detained by a third party outside Kenyan waters.

In November 2006, a Kenyan court sentenced 10 Somali pirates to seven years in prison each after convicting them of piracy in a landmark case that began with their capture by the US navy earlier that year.

Somalia has had no functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre.

Piracy has spiralled in recent months and Somalia`s sea gangs pulled off their biggest coup yet when they hijacked an oil-laden Saudi super-tanker Saturday, far off Somalia`s coast.