Somali pirates holding an Algerian bulk carrier since January 1 have released two of its 27 crewmen, including one Algerian on humanitarian grounds, the foreign ministry said here Wednesday.
Algerian foreign ministry spokesman Amar Belani said in a statement sent to the official news agency APS that one Algerian was released on "humanitarian grounds" together with a second crew member "with foreign citizenship."
He did not provide the names of the freed seamen.
The MV Blida had been captured on its way from Salalah in Oman to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with a crew of 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians including the captain, two Filipinos, an Indonesian and a Jordanian.
Nacerreddine Mansouri, a senior official of International Bulk Carriers (IBC), the MV Blida's registered owner, however identified the freed Algerian crewman as 52-year-old Azzedine Toudji and said an unidentified Ukrainian national was also released.
"We can confirm that their lives are not in danger," he said. "Contact was never broken. Negotiations are very difficult but are making progress."
The Algerian sailor "was taken to hospital", Belani earlier said without specifying where and adding only that his condition was not giving cause for concern.
"The Algerian authorities remain fully mobilised to ensure the release of all our compatriots as soon as possible," the spokesman was quoted as saying by APS.
Relatives of the Algerian hostages have organised regular protests to demand more effective government action to secure the crew's release.
Algeria has an official policy of not paying ransoms and has asked the UN General Assembly to criminalise ransom payments to pirates.
According to Ecoterra International, an environmental and human rights NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region, Somali pirates still hold at least 46 vessels and close to 500 seamen.
Source: AFP.
No comments:
Post a Comment