Hiiraan Online
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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Somali pirates who have been holding foreigners they seized from Somali seas have demanded a ransom for the release of the captives. The captives who are German nationals are a married couple, their son and the captain of the boat they were travelling.
The interior secretary of the semi autonomous region of Puntland in north east of Somalia Mr. Jama Hersi Farah told the AP news agency that the pirates have demanded a ransom of one million dollars for the release of the captives.
Reports say that the young boy accompanying the three adults is ill at the present and that the captives are being held in an area under the Puntland administration.
Somalia seas have recently witnessed a series of hijacking involving ships travelling on Somalia seas that were transporting goods and people or fishing there illegally.
This latest hijacking of German citizens follows a recent UN Security Council resolution allowing the deployment of foreign troops on Somalia seas to protect shipping lines although there are not any foreign troops of significance to safeguard safe passage for ship on Somalia seas.
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