Somalian govt supports RI`s effort to free sailors from pirates

Somalian government supports Indonesia`s efforts to release its sailors in captivity of Somalian pirates since last March 16, Somali`s Ambassador to Indonesia Mohamud Olow Barow said.

"We are ready to assist every action the Indonesian government will take either through diplomacy or military action. What matters first is the safety of the sailors," the ambassador said here on Wednesday.

The ambassador said since day one after the hijacking of MV Sinar Kudus, his side had talked with representatives of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry and owner of the ship, PT Samudera Indonesia, on possible ways of releasing the poor sailors immediately.

He said there were two options to save the sailors namely paying the ransom asked by the pirates or resort to military force.

"Since 2008, we have given the green light to all other countries willing to use military force to release its citizens from the pirates," said the ambassador adding that the pirates operating in Somalian waters were pure criminals and therefore his government supported every effort to eradicate them. 

After hijacking MV Sinar Kudus off the coast of East Africa when on its trip to Holland on March 16, the Somalian pirates demanded a US$2.6 million ransom for the release of the ship and its crew, but then they raised the ransom to US$3.5 million and further to US$9 million. The shipment itself is valued at US$1.4 trillion. 

Earlier, United Arab Emirates special forces were reported to have been successful in freeing sailors on board of an Abu Dhabi-owned ship seized by the pirates east of Oman in the Arabian Sea, military senior officials said.

"A special counter-terrorism unit, backed by air force and in coordination with the (Bahrain-based) US Fifth Fleet, stormed the ship. The hijackers subsequently surrendered," the official said.

The UAE said earlier that the special forces had moved to free MV Arrilah-I which was hijacked by pirates early on Friday while en route from Australia to Dubai in the UAE.

"MV Arrilah-I is now heading with all its crew to the shores of the UAE, and the pirates will be handed over to interior ministry officials upon reaching Jebel Ali" port in Dubai, the official said.

Meanwhile, the Thai government made diplomatic efforts in releasing its sailors from the hands of Somalian pirates. Last April 12, Somalian pirates said they have received a multi-million dollar ransom and released the Thor Nexus, a Thai-owned bulk carrier they seized on December 25, 2010.

The 20,377-dead weight bulk carrier was hijacked 350 miles off Oman with a crew of 27 Thais on its way to Pakistan.

"We received a $5 million ransom early in the morning for the release of the ship," a pirate who gave his name as Higle told Reuters by phone from their hideout.

The pirates left the ship on Monday and it sailed away under the watch of a navy ship that was waiting nearby, Higle said.

Foreign navies have been deployed off the Gulf of Aden since the start of 2009 to help prevent piracy, but it was not immediately clear which navy was monitoring the ship.

Pirates make tens of millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing merchant ships in the busy shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

Somalia has no effective central government for two decades, allowing armed gangs to stalk the strategic waterways off the Horn of Africa nation.

Source: ANTARA