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Over the past two weeks, more than 35,000 people gave their name to the ''Freedom for the Alakrana'' group formed on the social networking site Facebook. Following reports of the very recent release of the crew after 47 days held captive on the Indian Ocean, the members of that group have sent their messages of congratulations and support to the families of the fishermen.

Up until now, all messages left by group members on the site were directed at the Spanish Government, whom they urged to take control of and resolve the situation as soon as possible; all messages left on Tuesday, however, were of congratulations, joy and encouragement.

The group was set up just two weeks ago and gained as many as 12,000 members in 48 hours. The typical image of the Basque fishermen''s scarf was chosen as the group''s symbol on Facebook.

Developments pertaining to the Alakrana over the last few hours can also be followed on Twitter, where Spain’s leading PSOE party has posted a notice confirming the liberation of the vessel.