Zapatero tells the Alakrana families the government is doing all it can

Zapatero tells the Alakrana families the government is doing all it can
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By h.b. - Nov 11, 2009 - 8:15 AM
Comments made by the new British ambassador to Spain were played down by Miguel Ángel Moratinos

The 'Alakrana' captain's daughter, Cristina Blach (right) and Argi Galbarriatu, the Captain's sister - EFE

As the Somali kidnapping drama continues, it has emerged, according to El País on Wednesday, that it was the Spanish Government which urged judges and prosecutors to bring back the two captured Somali pirates to Spain.

The two have been imprisoned on remand by the National Court and now ways of legally returning them to Somalia as part of a deal are being searched for.
It has emerged that Judge Baltasar Garzón was not informed that two pirates had been captured.

Some of the families of the Spanish crew of the ‘Alakrana’ visited the Prime Minister in Madrid yesterday, and were told by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that the Government was exploring ‘all the legal ways’ to free the vessel and her crew. After the meeting the families made no comments to the press.

The cabinet held a crisis meeting to discuss the situation Tuesday, and heard the latest information from Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Speaking to Congress later he played down the declarations of the new British Ambassador to Spain, Gilles Paxman, who has said that the position of his government in such cases is not to give into the demands of the terrorists. Moratinos attributed those comments to the ambassador’s recent arrival in Spain.

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