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Africa Horn
Somalia: Italian government welcomes hostage release
2009-08-11
[ADN Kronos] The Italian government has welcomed the release of 10 Italian hostages freed by Somali pirates at the weekend. The Italians were among 16 European hostages - five Romanians and one Croatian - released by the pirates on Sunday.

The pirates seized their cargo ship, the Buccaneer, in the Gulf of Aden on 11 April.

Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said that Italian troops had taken no action to release the hostages and no ransom had been paid.
If the troops didn't do anything, then for sure a ransom was paid ...
In a statement, Frattini said he was pleased to see the hostages released and thanked those in Italy and Somali who were involved in a lengthy process to negotiate their freedom.

There has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden since the beginning of 2008. This increasing incidence of piracy has added to an increase in shipping costs and hindered the delivery of food aid shipments to the struggling Horn of Africa.

Ninety percent of the World Food Programme's shipments arrive by sea, and ships are now required to have a military escort.
Posted by:Fred

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