Somali pirates release Spanish trawler
Somali pirates have released a Spanish tuna fishing trawler and its crew of 36 after a ransom of $3.5 million paid.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister, told on Tuesday that the crews were safe but rejected to confirm if a ransom had been paid.
Mr. Zapatero says that Spanish government has done what it had to do.
Earlier in the day, one of the Somali pirates called Nor told Reuters by phone that Madrid had agreed to pay a ransom, adding “We hope it will finish in safety.”
Zapatero told to Journalists in Madrid that he can confirm that the Alakrana fishing trawler is going to freely to Spain.
He said “They are coming home, these difficult weeks have come to an end. This is very good news for the entire country”.
Somali pirates hijacked The Alakrana ship with 16 crew, eight Indonesians and others from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Madagascar, Seychelles and Senegal last month some 740km northwest of Seychelles.
Foreign warships from western counties are patrolling the area to try and prevent pirates, but the Somali pirates are now hijacking for ships far into the Indian Ocean.
Somalia, war-torn and lawless country in Horn of Africa, has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
(Written by Muhyadin Ahmed Roble is a Somali freelance Journalist based at Kenya who works with both local and international news networks in reporting the crisis in the Horn of Africa. He was Editor of local Newspaper called Xiddigta and producer of Simba FM in Nairobi and Mogadishu. He was working more then 6 years as writer, columnist, reporter, correspondent and editor.)
Muhyadin Ahmed Roble
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