Word: alakrana
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...complicate a hostage situation in which 36 men are held captive on a boat by machine-gun-wielding pirates? Just ask the Spanish government. On Oct. 2, pirates hijacked the Alakrana, a Basque fishing vessel that was trawling in the Indian Ocean. A day later, the Spanish navy arrested two of the presumed pirates and deported them for trial in Madrid. That might have been a triumph for law and order, had the rest of the pirate gang not still been aboard the Alakrana, holding its crew captive...
...ships to be attacked in the Gulf of Aden through September of this year, the Alakrana and its three dozen crew have been held hostage off the coast of Somalia for the past six weeks. The pirates have demanded a ransom of $4 million, far more than the $1.2 million reportedly paid to release another Spanish trawler that was hijacked in April 2008. There have been reports - though no confirmation - from Echebaster, the firm that owns the Alakrana, that the company would be willing to pay the amount. But for the moment, their willingness is largely irrelevant...
What is clear is that pressure for a solution is growing. After threatening to kill the hostages in threes until their comrades were returned, the pirates on the Alakrana removed a trio of hostages from the ship and brought them to shore on Nov. 6. Although the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the three have since been safely returned onboard, Andrew Mwangura, director of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, which is involved in the negotiations, denies the claim. "The three are not on the ship," he says. (Read "How China Is Battling Its Pirate Problem...
Families of the Spanish captives, who have had occasional communication with their loved ones, are becoming increasingly desperate. "We know that their situation is getting worse and that their lives are in danger if we don't find an immediate solution," says Argi Garribaltu, sister of the Alakrana's captain. "This is not a game...
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