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South Korea appeals to Somalia
17/05/2007 10:37 - (SA)
Seoul - South Korea on Thursday asked Somalia and neighbouring Kenya to help secure the release of crewmen aboard two South Korea-owned fishing boats hijacked off the Somali coast, officials said.
Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon sent the appeal to his Somali and Kenyan counterparts, said spokesperson Han Hye-Jin.
Song also discussed the issue with Bernard Membe, the visiting foreign minister of Tanzania where the ships were registered.
Unidentified gunmen hijacked the vessels about 200 nautical miles off the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday. The boats had left Mombasa in Kenya on May 11 for Yemen.
The foreign ministry said four Koreans, 10 Chinese, four Indonesians, three Vietnamese and three Indians were crewing the two boats. They were safe, a Kenyan maritime official told AFP on Wednesday.
Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister Shim Yoon-Joe held a series of meetings with envoys from China, Indonesia, Vietnam and India on Thursday. A South Korean navy officer left for Bahrain, where US-led allied naval forces are based, to check the situation.
No contact with the hijackers was reported as of early on Thursday.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting an unnamed official, said the seized vessels were spotted anchored at the Somalia port of Ras Assuad but the location of the hostages remained unknown.
The Somali coast has recently seen a resurgence of pirate attacks, which had stopped during six-months of strict rule by Islamists.
Ethiopian and Somali troops ousted the Islamists early this year.
- AFP
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