Nov 17, 2009, 16:34 GMT
Madrid/Mogadishu - Somali pirates who held the 36 crew of a Spanish fishing vessel hostage for 46 days released them Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced.
The pirates received a ransom of about 4 million dollars (2.3 million euros), a pirates' representative told the German Press Agency dpa earlier by phone.
'The vessel is navigating freely towards more secure waters,' Zapatero said.
The crew, which includes 16 Spaniards as well as Africans and Asians, were 'safe and sound,' the prime minister said. The vessel, the MS Alakrana, was expected to arrive in the Seychelles on Thursday, according to government sources.
'We received four million dollars to release the Spanish fishing boat,' said Ali Dhere, a member of the piracy ring which hijacked the Alakrana.
Dhere also said there was an agreement on the release of two of the suspected pirates who were captured by a Spanish frigate and brought to Madrid for trial.
The pirates had threatened to start killing the fishermen unless the two were set free.
Spanish diplomats and members of the secret service helped the owner of the Alakrana negotiate with the pirates.
Zapatero did not reveal whether the government participated in paying a ransom, only saying the government had 'done what it had to do' and had acted 'within the law.'
The Alakrana was seized on October 2 in the Indian Ocean and taken to near the Somali coast.
Two of the suspected pirates left the trawler one day after the hijacking and were captured by a Spanish frigate taking part in international anti-piracy patrols in the area.
That move complicated the negotiations with the pirates who insisted on the release of their companions.
The two were now expected to be given a swift trial within two weeks. It was, however, unclear whether they could be handed short enough prison sentences for Spain to be able to expel them.
Several possibilities were being considered, including that of the government pardoning them.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega declined to comment on the matter, saying only that it was in the hands of the judiciary.
The Alakrana crew members come from Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Seychelles.
More than a dozen vessels with some 300 crew are currently being held by pirates off East Africa.
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