Somali pirates get $3.3m ransom

November 18, 2009|Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia - As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat yesterday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members.

Spain’s prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers - one reason the attacks are on the rise.

“The government did what it had to do,’’ Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. “The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives of its countrymen.’’

Somali pirates attacked two more ships on Monday and still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew, including a British couple who were taken from their 38-foot sailboat last month.

Britain has refused to pay ransom for Paul and Rachel Chandler, whose boat was taken by pirates on Oct. 23.

Authorities believe the Chandlers, who are in their 50s, are being held on land in Somalia. Pirates have demanded $7 million for their release - money the Chandlers’ relatives say the couple doesn’t have.

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