Skip to footer

Somali pirates release 11 hostages, finally

Eleven hostages, captured by Somali pirates in 2010, were released. While pirate attacks have decreased, 38 crew members remain in captivity, the U.N. said.

  • By Abdi Sheik Reuters

| Mogadishu, Somalia

Eleven crew members held hostage by Somali pirates for more than three years have been released, regional and United Nations officials said on Saturday.

The number of attacks by Somali pirates has fallen over the last two years due to increased naval patrols and the presence of well-armed security teams on ships. However, 38 crew members remain in captivity, the U.N. said.

The 11 men freed on Friday were crew on Malaysian-owned cargo vessel MV Albedo which was hijacked 900 miles (1,500 kms) off Somalia in November 2010 while sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya.

"They are all healthy," said Abdi Yusuf Hassan, the interior minister of Galmudug region. He said no ransom was paid.

MV Albedo's 23-man crew was made up of sailors from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran when it was seized.

Seven of the ship's crew were released in 2012 while four others drowned when the ship sank last year.

Media reports have suggested one hostage was killed soon after the vessel was hijacked.

Nick Kay, the U.N.'s envoy to Somalia, said the 11 crew have been flown to Kenya and will be sent back to their respective countries in coming days.

"I remain deeply concerned that 38 other crew members are still being held hostage by Somali pirates," Kay said in a statement.
"I call on those who continue to detain these crew members to release them without further delay so they can rejoin their families and loved ones."

(Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Sophie Hares)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Somali pirates release 11 hostages, finally
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0607/Somali-pirates-release-11-hostages-finally
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe