Thursday, March 29, 2012

Pakistani negotiator says Somali pirates agree to free Malaysian-owned ship for ransom

A Pakistani negotiator for a Malaysian-owned ship held by Somali pirates says he has reached agreement to free the crew in exchange for a ransom of almost $3 million.

The pirates have been holding MV Albedo for more than a year.

Negotiator Ahmed Chenoy says they would free its 23 crew members after agreeing to a ransom payment of $2.85 million. Chenoy did not say who would provide the money. He said it will be delivered to the pirates by plane by April 20.

The Kenya-bound ship was hijacked in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden. Its crew members come from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.

Chenoy is an official in Pakistan’s Sindh province. He said Wednesday he reached out to the ship’s hijackers through Dubai-based Somali merchants.

Source: The Associated Press

No comments:

Post a Comment