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
Freelance Journalist
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