Sunday November 8, 2009

Somali pirates say Spanish captives still ashore

By Mohamed Ahmed

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates are holding three sailors from a Spanish fishing vessel on shore, a gang member said on Sunday, rejecting Madrid's assertion that they had been reunited with the remaining crew aboard their ship.

A pirate who identified himself only as Mohamed said the return of the three to their vessel, the Alakrana, depended on the release of two pirates being held in Spain.

Madrid should negotiate directly with the pirates, rather than trying to deal with the Somali government, he told Reuters by phone from the Alakrana which remains under pirate control.

"No one has been returned to the ship. The reason they were originally taken to the shore was to separate them from the rest of the crew and their return aboard depends on the release of our two colleagues," said Mohamed.

The pirates had previously said they would not negotiate a ransom for the release of the tuna boat until the two Somalis had been freed.

In Madrid Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratino said he believed the entire crew of 36 was on the Alakrana. "All our reliable sources, our (intelligence) services tell us that they are all on board," he told a news conference.

The Spanish navy captured two Somalis in the Indian Ocean shortly after pirates seized the Alakrana on Oct.2 and took its crew hostage. The suspects are set to face trial in Spain on kidnapping and other charges.

Moratino said Spain was directing its diplomatic efforts on the authorities in Mogadishu. "The Somali government has to guarantee the security and integrity of all the crew," he said. "With this greater diplomatic effort, we think we can get results quicker."

But Mohamed said Madrid must deal with the pirates, not Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke. Spain's ambassador to Kenya is due to meet Sharmarke in Nairobi on Sunday, even though the Mogadishu government controls little of the lawless country.

"This has nothing to do with Sharmarke, it concerns parents and missing sons," Abdulahi Abdisalan, an uncle of one of the pirates held in Spain told Reuters. "Even if a ransom is paid, whatever amount, we will not release them unless we get our sons back to Haradheere."

Haradheere is a pirates' enclave in central Somalia, on the Indian Ocean coast.

Andrew Mwangura, of Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers Association, also told Reuters that the latest information he had indicated that the hostages were still being held onshore.

The Alakrana's first mate Ricardo Blach said he did not know whether all the crew were on board, telling Spanish television by phone that the ship's captain had been separated from the rest of the crew early on.

Moratinos said that the Alakrana's crew had food and water, but Blach said they had been without water since yesterday.

(Additional reporting by Judy Macinnes in Madrid; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by David Stamp)

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