Somali pirates warn S. Korean destroyer to stay away
By HYUNG-JIN KIM (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea — Somali pirates warned a South Korean destroyer chasing a hijacked supertanker with 24 sailors on board not to get any closer or else risk endangering the crew, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

All crew members of the South Korean-operated, Marshall Island-flagged Samho Dream are safe, the pirates said by phone Wednesday through the tanker's captain in the first contact since the hijacking Sunday in the Indian Ocean.

However, "the safety of the sailors will be in jeopardy" if the destroyer sails any closer, the pirates warned, a ministry official said.

Pirates have been on a streak of ship hijackings in recent weeks, with at least 16 ships and some 240 crew members believed held captive off Somalia's lawless coast.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and multimillion-dollar ransoms have become a way to make money in the impoverished nation. More...