Somali pirates will release Ukrainian ship: AFP

Singapore: Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship on Sunday said agreement had been reached to release it, but the fate of a Saudi oil carrier was unclear ahead of the expiry of a 25-million dollar ransom demand, newswire Agence France Presse reported.

Sugule Ali, spokesman for the pirates who hijacked the MV Faina in September with its battle tanks and weapons cargo, said it was "a matter of technicality and time" before the vessel was freed. "I can't tell you what the ransom is, but what can I say is that agreement has finally been reached," Ali told AFP from the ship. "Within four days, we must leave and we are preparing for the safe landing of our members," he said. "We have no doubt this problem will be resolved and I hope the owners will honour the last remaining points." The MV Faina was hijacked on September 25 on its way to Kenya, ferrying 33 Soviet-type battle tanks, anti-air systems, rocket launchers and ammunition. The ship has a crew of 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one Latvian. "Our members are very tired and the crew are also very tired. We all want this matter to be resolved. "We were very lenient during the discussions because the community in the area was putting pressure on us to release the ship, especially the elders." Ali explained. The US military has overflown the hijacked vessel several times to take pictures of the crew lined up on the bridge and verify that all were in good health. The MV Faina was anchored a few miles off the coast of the pirate lair of Harardhere, north of Mogadishu, and moved several times. On Tuesday, Ali said they had lowered their ransom demand to three milion dollars from eight million. At first the pirates demanded 35 million dollars. The capture of the ship triggered a controversy over its cargo's final destination. Asian and European fishing fleets have also systematically depleted Somalia's marine resources, one of the main justifications offered by pirates who have argued they are not seeking ransoms but imposing fines.
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