U.N.: Somali Pirates Release Lebanese Ship:
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Somali pirates released a Lebanese-owned cargo ship seized last week as it headed to pick up food aid for Africa, a United Nations spokesman said Monday.

The Togo-flagged MV Sea Horse was released Friday, U.N. World Food Program spokesman Peter Smerdon said, citing the ship's operators. He had no more details and it wasn't known if a ransom was paid.

The release was a rare piece of good news about the pirate crisis plaguing the Horn of Africa. Pirates still hold at least 17 other ships and around 300 crew. Most ships are held for multimillion-dollar ransoms.