1 ship freed, 1 captured, 3rd still in limbo

1 ship freed, 1 captured, 3rd still in limbo
By Mohamed Sheikh Nor - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 15, 2008 8:31:39 EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, and said Wednesday they are negotiating for its release.

The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have decreased to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina by early Tuesday.

“We have withdrawn it,” spokesman Sugule Ali told The Associated Press on Wednesday by satellite phone from the ship, which pirates seized with its cargo of tanks and heavy weapons off the coast of Somalia on Sept. 25.

Meanwhile, soldiers from a semiautonomous Somali region, their guns blazing, freed a Panama-flagged cargo ship from pirates Tuesday as other pirates hijacked a bulk carrier with 21 crew members in the Gulf of Aden.

Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau said the hijacked ship was sailing from the Middle East to Asia when it was seized Wednesday. The ship flies a Panamanian flag but is operated in the Philippines.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_pirates_somalia_101408/%2e