Two of pirates involved in Spanish trawler hijack captured

Two of pirates involved in Spanish trawler hijack captured
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By m.p. - Oct 4, 2009 - 3:09 PM
They were intercepted after leaving the Alakrana on the skiff the pirates used in the assault

Defence Ministry image of the Alakrana - EFE

Two of the pirates who boarded and hijacked a Basque trawler 400 miles off the coast of Somalia early on Friday were arrested by the Spanish Navy frigate ‘Canarias’ on Saturday night, after disembarking from the Alakrana onto the skiff the pirates used to assault the trawler.

The boat was tracked by the Canarias helicopter and came to a halt after warning shots were fired across its bows. One of the two men travelling on the boat is reported to have received minor injuries when he was shot in the stomach when the skiff was boarded by marines from the frigate.

A Dutch frigate, the Germinal, remained with the Alakrana as the Canarias sailed off in pursuit of the pirate skiff and, on Sunday afternoon, both frigates were monitoring the trawler off the coast of Somalia. Some 10 or so heavily-armed men were on board the Basque boat, guarding the 36 crew.

They were earlier permitted to telephone their families on Sunday, and said they were all fine and were being treated well by their captors. It’s understood that the Alakrana’s captain passed on a similar message in a brief telephone conversation with the Spanish Ambassador to Kenya, Nicolás Martín Cinto, and said he and the crew were being held in the ship’s mess.

Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, was due to start conversations on Sunday with the Somali authorities in an attempt to gain the crew’s release.

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