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Somalia: Pirates demand 'ransom' for French boat
 (SomaliNet) Somali pirates who seized a French yacht and kidnapped two French nationals were demanding a "ransom" of more than one million dollars to release the vessel, A maritime official said on Thursday. Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Programme, said they had received reports "the gunmen are demanding more than one million dollars in ransom to release the yacht." However, the information could not be independently verified as authorities in Somalia's Puntland region, close to where the boat was attacked, could not confirm the claim. Hijackers captured the 16-metre Carre d'as sailing boat in the Gulf of Aden late on Tuesday and were taking it to Eyl village, a pirate den in Somalia's northern semi-autonomous Puntland region. "We can only pray that the pirates release the hostages. We are powerless to help," said Abdullahi Saed Yusuf, the district comissioner of Eyl. The French foreign ministry said two French nationals were seized with the Venezuelan-registered boat. French commandos carried out an operation in April and captured six pirates after Somali pirates seized a French luxury sailing ship, Le Ponant, with its 30 crew, including 22 French nationals, and held them for a week. Since the end of July, eight ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, including two Malaysian vessels as well as others from Germany, Iran and Japan. The waters off Somalia are the most dangerous in the world for pirate activity, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting 24 attacks in the area between April and June this year. Posted by: Fred 2008-09-07 |
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