Hostages freed from pirates off Somalia, Nigeria

[January 07, 2009]  PARIS (AP) -- Pirates freed 20 hostages aboard a Turkish freighter commandeered off the Somali coast, as nine captives on a French boat were released off southern Nigeria, the boat owners said Wednesday.

The Yasa Holding Co. said pirates freed the Yasa Neslihan freighter Tuesday after paying a ransom. The Turkish ship was seized Oct. 29 in the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean near Somalia.

"They asked for ransom and it has been paid," company spokesman Fehmi Ulgener said. He refused to disclose the amount paid. "All the crew members are fine and their morale is high."

Piracy has soared off Somalia, which is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has no functioning government, with more than 100 vessels attacked around the Gulf of Aden in 2008.

Pirates have also been active off Nigeria, with pirate attacks and hostage-taking closely intertwined with militants pressing the Nigerian government to send more oil proceeds to the southern oil region in Africa's biggest crude producer.

Nine hostages and a French boat seized by pirates off oil-rich Nigeria's southern coast were freed safely early Wednesday, said the boat's French owner, Bourbon.

A statement from the company said the hostages, all crew members, were in good health and will return to their families. It provided no details of how the group and boat, the Bourbon Leda, were freed or whether any ransom was paid.

Bourbon, which provides specialist boats for the oil and gas industry, expressed thanks to the Nigerian authorities for their cooperation.

Pirates hijacked the Bourbon Leda on Sunday with five Nigerians, two Ghanaians, one Cameroonian and one Indonesian aboard.

International efforts to fight piracy have mounted in recent months off Somalia. More than a dozen ships with around 200 crew members are in the hands of pirates, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

There are more than a dozen warships guarding Somalia's waters. Countries including the U.S., Britain, China, France, Germany and Iran have naval forces off the Somali coast or on their way there.

Japan is considering whether to allow its naval ships to join international patrols off the coast of Somalia to help fight piracy, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The government intends to submit legislation -- spearheaded by Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration -- during parliament's current session, which ends in March, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

Japan's military is strictly limited to defensive activities by the country's postwar constitution. Critics say that sending ships to global hotspots could lead to problems if they come under attack or must assist friendly countries' vessels.

[Associated Press; By ANGELA CHARLTON]

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