'No demands from pirates'
2008-04-23 18:16
Teresa Larraz & Jane Barrett)
Madrid - Somali pirates who seized a Spanish tuna fishing boat at the weekend have not yet made any demands for a ransom, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Wednesday.
Somalia said on Tuesday it had sent forces to free the boat, carrying 26 crew, after troops stormed another hijacked ship, freed its crew and arrested seven pirates.
"There hasn't been an offer from the hijackers and we don't know what they want," Moratinos said in remarks broadcast on television. "First we have to hear what they are asking for, what they want ... so we're going to wait."
A surge in maritime hijackings for ransom in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have made it one of the world's most dangerous shipping zones. French troops last week arrested six pirates who had seized a French luxury yacht and held its crew hostage for a week.
Spain has sent one of its frigates and its ambassador to try and rescue the ship.
France and the US, with the help of Britain, are drafting a UN Security Council resolution authorising countries to fight piracy off Somalia and elsewhere, France's UN envoy said on Tuesday.
Moratinos said Spain would support the resolution and would call a meeting between various countries involved to work out a way of improving security in the region.