Monday, October 05, 2009
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke by telephone with Omar Abdirashid to discuss the seizure of the "Alakrana" boat and its crew of 36, a government statement said.
"The number one authority in Somalia has committed himself to helping all the steps which the Spanish government is taking to liberate the "Alakrana", it said.
The Spanish ambassador in Kenya has also spoken to Somalia's Interior Minister about the hijacking, it said.
Gangs from Somalia, some made up of former fishermen angered by the presence of foreign trawlers in their waters, have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia.
The government of Somalia, where civil war has been going on for 18 years, controls only small pockets of the capital Mogadishu.
The pirates hijacked the "Alakrana" in the Indian Ocean about 135 miles off the coast last week.
The Spanish navy on Sunday intercepted a skiff in which two pirates were trying to make their way ashore. They have been charged with terrorism and kidnapping.
Last year, crew members of a Spanish fishing boat were freed by pirates in the area after payment of a $1.2 million ransom, according to a Somali official.
In July, France deployed 30 marines aboard its tuna fleet to fend off pirates.
Source: Reuters, Oct 05, 2009