[dehai-news] (AP) Somali pirates release 20 Filipino seamen


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From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Oct 10 2008 - 11:44:07 EDT


Somali pirates release 20 Filipino seamen
By OLIVER TEVES

Oct 10, 2008
 
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Somali pirates freed 20 Filipino seamen
from a hijacked ship they held for more than 80 days, officials said
Friday, as the government doubled the pay of sailors passing through
pirate-infested international waters.
Pirates also released 29
Iranian crew members and their cargo ship hijacked off Somalia's coast
in late July, Iran's official news agency said Friday.
IRNA
quoted the Iranian shipping agency as saying the crew was safe and
their vessel, Iran-Dianat, was sailing home. It did not say if any
ransom was paid, but hostages in Somalia are usually freed in exchange
for money.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban
Conejos said the all-Filipino crew of the Japanese-operated bulk
carrier Stella Maris, also seized in July, was freed late Thursday.
 He
said the sailors were "well and safe" and their ship was headed to
Muscat, Oman.He said 47 Filipinos on three other ships were still in the hands of Somali pirates.
Meanwhile,
a Somali official said a ship carrying cement to the East Africa
country was hijacked late Thursday. The hijacking came after NATO
joined a growing international force to protect vessels off the
perilous coast.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has approved a resolution
doubling the salary of Filipino sailors passing through dangerous
waters.
Roque said the agency gave Filipino crewmen the option to
disembark at the nearest safe port before their vessels sail through
dangerous waters like the Gulf of Aden. Recruiting agencies and
shipowners agreed to abide by the government's decision, he said.
More than 270,000 Filipinos work on foreign vessels, accounting for about a third of the world's shipping crews.
Government
records show 117 Filipino crewmen have been seized by Somali pirates in
11 attacks since April. There were 20 Filipinos seized in one incident
in 2006 and 10 in two attacks last year.
The pirates have released most of the hostages. It was not clear if a ransom was paid.Ali
Abdi Aware, foreign minister of the semiautonomous region of Puntland
in Somalia, said the crew of the ship hijacked late Thursday is
believed to be Syrian and Somali.
NATO said Thursday it would
send seven ships to the treacherous waters where pirates are
negotiating the release of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship hijacked two
weeks ago.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships off
Somalia's coast this year but the MV Faina has drawn the most
international concern because of its dangerous cargo — 33 tanks and
other heavy weapons.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hEPVevgJ-rAmL9onqu8KHIwmXJTAD93NLDE81

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