MOGADISHU – Somali pirates have released three Syrian hostages held in captivity since 2010 without payment of any ransom, government officials said on Saturday.
The three were part of the 19-strong crew of a Panama-flagged, United Arab Emirates-owned bulk cargo vessel captured in December 2010 some 400 miles northeast of the Seychelles. The ship was released in October 2012 after pirates said they received $400,000, but detained six of the crew to get more money for them.
Unidentified Syrian hostages pose for a photograph after they were released by pirates at the airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, January 12, 2013 (c) REUTERS/Feisal Omar
The pirates who had held the three were pardoned, Mohamed Aden Tiicey, president of the government of Adado region, told Reuters by phone.
“No ransom was paid. We had agreed with pirates to surrender, hand over weapons and release the hostages without ransom,” Tiicey said.
Hostage Muayad Walio told Reuters he and his companions in captivity were in good health.
“I am very happy. We got our freedom after about two years and one month,” hostage Muayad Walio told Reuters.
Tiicey and a former pirate, Abdiqadir, accompanied the three released hostages to Mogadishu.
“We have taken these three Syrian hostages from the pirates- the other crew had been previously released,” Abdiqadir told Reuters.
Abdiqadir is the son of a former pirate kingpin known as Mohamed Abdi Hassan “Afweyne”. He and his father now both work with the Addado region.
A U.N. Monitoring Group report on Somalia in 2010 said that “Afweyne” commanded bandits in the Arabian Sea and off the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa for almost a decade, raking in millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Somalia, which is only now getting a functioning government after two decades of chaos and civil war, is next to the Gulf of Aden’s busy shipping lanes. Poverty and lawlessness have lured many young men into piracy.
But successful hijackings have fallen steadily since 2010 due to patrolling by an international coalition of warships and the use of armed private security guards on merchant ships.
(Reporting by Feisal Omar and Abdi Sheikh; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Jason Webb)
By Ellen Francis (Reuters) – Interpol has issued red notices for the captain and owner of the ship that carried the chemicals which devastated Beirut in an explosion in August, killing 200...
By Chen Aizhu (Reuters) – China has issued 5 million tonnes of clean marine fuel export quotas in the first release for 2021, to five companies including a private refiner,...
December 31, 2020
Total Views: 4537
Sign Up Now for gCaptain Daily
Just enter your email and get hot news every morning
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.