Berlin - The European Union signed an agreement with Kenya on Friday, providing for the handover of pirates seized off the coast of Somalia, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The agreement was signed in Nairobi by Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula and the Czech ambassador to Kenya, the spokesman said. The Czech Republic holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

The spokesman said no decision had been made whether nine pirates captured by the German Navy would be transferred to Kenya.

The pirates are on board the German frigate Rheinland Pfalz, which apprehended them on Tuesday when they attacked a German merchant vessel off Somalia with anti-tank missiles and firearms.

A specially convened commission, representing Germany's Interior, Foreign, Defence and Justice ministries, met this week to discuss the legal status off the pirates.

The frigate is part of the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden, which Germany joined in December. (dpa)