Somali pirates get $3.3 million ransom, free 36 hostages
By Mohamed Olad Hassan and Daniel Woolls - Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members.
Spain's prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise.
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"The government did what it had to do," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. "The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives of its countrymen."
Somali pirates attacked two more ships Monday and still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew, including a British couple who were taken from their 38-foot sailboat last month.
Ali Gab, a self-described pirate, told The Associated Press the hijackers of the Spanish tuna boat Alakrana were paid $3.3 million in ransom, delivered by boat as sailors aboard a nearby warship watched.

After being freed, the trawler steamed away under the protection of two Spanish warships. All crew members were reported to be in good health after more than six weeks in captivity.
In April 2008, the Spanish government reportedly paid a ransom of $1.2 million to win the release of another Spanish trawler seized by pirates off Somalia with 26 crew members on board.
That ordeal lasted a week. More...

Nicolas Cage visits Kenyan jail to talk to pirates
(AP) - MOMBASA, Kenya — Film star Nicolas Cage has visited a Kenyan prison holding suspected Somali pirates awaiting trial to highlight the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Inmates danced for the movie star and shook his hand as he toured the Shimo La Tewa prison in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa. The prison has become a model for other jails in the country because of the reform work of its chief warden, Wanini Kireri.

Cage, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime, told The Associated Press Television News on Tuesday that he wanted to meet with some of the suspected Somali pirates, hear their stories and understand what is fueling piracy off the Somali coast.

"Then I'm in a position where I can actually make some sense and talk about it when I go back to the States where I go talk to different U.N. councils and discuss the matter," Cage said.
Cage also gave out awards during his Tuesday visit to wardens in recognition of their outstanding work. He left Kenya Wednesday.

Somali pirates are currently holding around a dozen ships and more than 200 crew, and attacks have increased in recent weeks as seasonal rains subsided.

On Wednesday, pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.

An international flotilla of warships now patrols the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, but pirates continue to carry out attacks because of the millions of dollars that can be made from a successful hijacking.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Pirates Free Crew of Spanish Ship

Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Pirates freed 36 crew members from a Spanish trawler Tuesday after holding them for more than six weeks. A self-proclaimed pirate said the hostage-takers were paid $3.3 million in ransom, while Spain's prime minister said the country did what it had to do.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the tuna boat Alakrana "is sailing toward safer waters. All of its crew members are safe and sound." The release came despite the fact that two Somali pirates in Spanish custody soon will stand trial for kidnapping and related charges. More...

Somali Pirates Move Couple Onto LandBritish captives were taken off a hijacked ship as pirates reportedly debated on demanding a ransom or a prisoner exchange.November 1, 2009 - By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and MOHAMMED IBRAHIM - International / Africa

British Couple Held Off Somali CoastNAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates said Thursday that they had moved a British couple seized from their sailboat last week to a container ship ...October 30, 2009 - By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and MOHAMMED IBRAHIM - International / Africa

Europe Seizes Pirates Who May Have Helped Kidnap BritonsEuropean Union naval officials announced they had captured seven pirates who had attacked a fishing ship a day before the British couple ...October 29, 2009 - By JACK HEALY and MOHAMMED IBRAHIM - International / Africa

British Man Describes Kidnapping by Pirates - Readers' Comments ...why hasn't the UN done something about the pirates? is this not the sort of international problem they were created to handle? ...October 28, 2009 - Community.nytimes.com/comments/thelede Blog

Officials Fear Somali Pirates Kidnapped a British CoupleA couple sailing from the island nation of Seychelles vanished after a distress signal was picked up.October 28, 2009 - By JOHN F. BURNS - International / Africa

Somali Pirates Seize Weapons Ship, Attack Tanker
MOGADISHU (Reuters)

Somali pirates have seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for the anarchic Horn of Africa nation in contravention of a U.N. arms embargo, maritime experts said on Monday.

Also on Monday, the gunmen launched their longest range hijack attempt yet -- opening fire on a giant Hong Kong-flagged crude oil tanker 1,000 nautical miles east of Mogadishu.
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme told Reuters he believed the weapons ship was using a fake name. He said it had been hijacked on Sunday and was now held near the northern Somali town of Garacad.

"She is one of the regular weapons carriers circumventing the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia," Mwangura said. Maritime sources say the craft is believed to be carrying light arms and ammunition, as well as rockets and rocket-propelled grenades.
"We understand the weapons belong to the Somali government," Farah, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite telephone. More...

Somalia: Pirates Attack Oil Tanker
AP: November 9, 2009

Somali pirates attacked an oil tanker and fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on Monday farther out at sea than in any previous assault, suggesting that the pirates’ abilities were growing as they increased activity off East Africa. Pirates in two skiffs fired at the Hong Kong-flagged BW Lion about 1,000 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, the European Union Naval Force said. The tanker’s captain increased speed and took evasive maneuvers, avoiding the attack, the force said. No casualties were reported. Pirates have carried out increasingly bold attacks on vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in hopes of capturing ships and crews and collecting ransom. They currently hold more than 190 hostages, including a British couple seized from their yacht last month.

France seeks Seychelles' help in trying suspected pirates

But the islands' officials say they don't have the resources to deal with potentially large numbers of suspected Somali pirates. More...