Sana'a, Yemen - Negotiations between Somali tribal leaders
and pirates who hijacked a Yemeni cargo ship last week were advancing
and the ship could be released 'soon,' the ship's owner said Friday.
'Negotiations have reached an advanced level, and we hope the ship
will soon be released,' Attas Salim Aboud told Deutsche Presse-
Agentur dpa. He refused to provide further details about the talks.
The ship, Erina, was attacked as it sailed from the south-eastern
Yemeni port city of Mukalla to the Indian Ocean island of Socotra on
November 19. It is now off the Eyl port, in the semi-autonomous
Puntland region in northern Somalia.
The vessel is carrying 570 tons of steel and construction
equipment belonging to the Juraiba and Bin-Makhzoum Construction
company in Mukalla.
The Somali pirates have demanded 2 million dollars in ransom for
the release of the ship, but the owner, who is a Yemeni national of
Somali origin, has said he would not pay any ransom.
On Wednesday, Aboud said Somali security forces blockaded the
vessel and were preparing to storm it if the talks fail and the
pirates insist on their ransom demand.
He said the troops were backed by dozens of tribesmen who had
rushed to Eyl to press for the ship's release.
'The pirates are now surrounded and could not get even food
supplies,' he said.
Eight crew members (three Yemenis, three Somalis and two
Tanzanians) were taken hostage by the pirates.
Piracy off the Horn of Africa nation has surged in recent months
as Somalia descends further into chaos and the ineffectual central
government continues to squabble rather than govern.
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