Pirates open to negotiations

2008-10-09 15:30

Nairobi - The Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship laden with weapons are open to ransom negotiations, but will cause the world problems if foreign powers use force against them, a spokesperson for the bandits said on Thursday.

Separately, officials said other pirates in Somalia have released 15 Filipino seamen and four other crewmen seized when a Japanese-operated chemical tanker was hijacked nearly two months ago. But pirates still hold 67 Filipino sailors on four different ships.

And Nato defence ministers meeting in Hungary have agreed to send ships to the area soon, a diplomat said.

Earlier on Thursday, the US Navy said the 20 crew members aboard the weapons-laden Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, are living in fear.

"They want it to end peaceful and quickly," said Nathan Christensen, a spokesperson from the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain. He said the Navy was in regular radio contact with the crew.

But Sugule Ali, the spokesperson for the pirates who seized the Faina two weeks ago, said the crew was holding up well.

"Their chef still prepares their food for them," he said. "They are healthy and have no worries. But of course their only worry is when they will gain their freedom. Their feeling is typically that of hostages - no more, no less."

Commando tactics

Ali had originally said he would never lower the ransom demand from $20m. But he appeared to be softening his stance as the stand-off dragged on, with a half-dozen US warships surrounding the vessel and a Russian ship on the way.

"We are open for give-and-take negotiations," Ali told The Associated Press by satellite telephone. He refused to offer further details or confirm another pirate's claim earlier this week that the demand had dropped to $8m.

Somalia's government has given foreign powers the freedom to use force against the pirates, raising the stakes significantly. Russia, whose warship is not expected for several days, has used commando tactics to end several hostage situations on its own soil, but hundreds of hostages have died in those efforts.

"We will cause a lot of problems for the world if they insist on fighting us," Ali said.

The Faina's hijacking, the most high-profile hijacking off Somalia this year, illustrates the ability of pirates from a failed state to menace a key international shipping lane despite the deployment of warships by global powers. More than two dozen ships have been hijacked off Somalia's coast this year.

- AP