Kenya: Somali pirates make $150M in a year

[November 21, 2008]  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenya's foreign minister says Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the past year.

Moses Wetangula is calling on ship owners not to pay ransom when their vessels are hijacked off the lawless coast of Somalia because such payments are what have emboldened the pirates.

In their most daring seizure so far, the pirates captured a massive Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

Wetangula was speaking Friday during a meeting with diplomats to discuss piracy off the eastern Africa coast.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.