Piracy: Sailors freed from hijacked Algerian ship

great joy and profound relief that we announce the release this morning of the 25 crew of the MV Blida,” ministry spokesman Amar Belani said in a statement sent to AFP.
The Blida was captured on its way from Salalah in Oman to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with a crew of 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians including the captain, two Filipinos, an Indonesian and a Jordanian.
Belani said on October 12 that an Algerian and a Ukrainian had been released on humanitarian grounds, adding, “Negotiations are very difficult but are making progress.”
Relatives of the Algerian hostages organised regular protests to demand more effective government action to secure the crew’s release.
Algeria has an official policy of not paying ransoms and has asked the UN General Assembly to criminalise ransom payments to pirates.
According to Ecoterra International, an environmental and human rights NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region, Somali pirates still hold at least 46 vessels and some 500 seamen.
Source: AFP