News

Somali pirates holding a Basque fishing boat and its crew hostage have threatened to hand crew members over to the families of two Somali pirates arrested by Spanish forces if the Spanish Government does not release their two colleagues.

"The Spanish Government is creating confusion", Hussein Badmax, one of the pirates, said told Spanish news agency EFE by telephone.

"We warned the Spanish Government to obey us and release our two comrades, but it didn''t and the moment and the conditions are more serious now", Badmax added.

"I demand now of the sixteen Spanish crew members to put pressure on their Government to release our comrades in five days'' time. If our comrades are not released in five day''s time, we will hand some of the Spanish crew members over to the families of the Somalis arrested in Spain and they will be able to see the result", Badmax said.

He also said they will not negotiate its release until their colleagues facing hijacking charges in Madrid are freed and that the release will not suppose the reduction of their ransom demand.

27 days hostage

The two men, who were charged in a Madrid court last week, were caught by the Spanish navy in the Indian Ocean shortly before the Alakrana, a tuna boat, was captured with its crew of 36 by pirates on Oct. 2.

High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon remanded the two men -- named as Abdu Willy and Raagegeesey -- in custody on charges including illegal detention, criminal association and armed robbery.

Patrols by foreign navies have failed to stop hijackings by heavily armed Somali pirate gangs in the shipping lanes that link Europe to Asia.