Somali troops free cargo ship

2008-10-14 16:12

Mogadishu - Soldiers of a regional government, with guns blazing, freed a Panama-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday that pirates had held off the Somali coast for five days, according to an official from the region.

Also on Tuesday, other pirates failed to act on their threat to blow up a Ukrainian ship laden with weapons that has been held for nearly three weeks, a US military spokesperson said.

The Panama-flagged vessel and its 11 crew - nine Syrians and two Somalis - were freed after a gun battle in which one soldier was killed and three wounded, said deputy Seaport minister Abdiqadir Muse Geele. No hostages or pirates were hurt, Geele said.

The 10 pirates who had held the ship since Thursday surrendered when they ran out of ammunition, said Geele, a deputy minister in the government of the northern Somalia semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

Pirates had threatened to destroy the Ukrainian ship by early Tuesday unless ransom was paid. But the US Navy said the deadline passed without incident.

The MV Faina, carrying a crew of 20 and a cargo of heavy weapons, is still in one piece, said Stephanie Murdock, a spokesperson for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

American warships continue to monitor the Faina, which is docked near the Somali port of Hobyo, Murdock said.

A spokesperson for the pirates said on Monday they were considering extending the deadline. They have held the ship and its crew for almost three weeks.

Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off Somalia's coast.

- AP