Posted on 05/14/2013 12:19:48 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Saudi ship owner paid ransom money to Somali pirates to crew released
The Saudi owner of an Algerian cargo ship whose crew was held by Somali pirates for 10 months admitted paying $2.6 million to free them in November 2011, an Algerian paper reported on Tuesday.
The ‘MV Blida’, carrying 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians, two Filipinos, one Jordanian and one Indonesian, was captured by a gang of heavily armed pirates on January 1, 2011, on its way from Oman to Tanzania.
Two of hostages were released for health reasons in October that year, with the rest freed the following month when a bag full of cash was parachuted from a plane.
"The pirates demanded a ransom of $2.6 million (two million euros) to free the sailors and the ship. The Algerian government refused to negotiate or pay a ransom," owner Ghaith Rashad Feraoun told Arabic daily ‘Ennahar’.
"I thought of the sailors. I had no interest in freeing the bulk carrier and cement on board, as it was 100 per cent insured and the insurance companies were going to reimburse me," he said.
"I negotiated through a man called Abu Ali or Abu Ahmed. After agreeing with the pirates on the amount, I paid a one off payment in cash.
"I withdrew the money from Lebanon, because it's the only country where you can get that amount without encountering obstacles," Feraoun explained.
"We took a small plane and threw the money onto the ship," he said, adding that "Algeria didn't pay a single dinar."
Algeria has a policy of not negotiating with hostage-takers and has asked the UN General Assembly to criminalise ransom payments to pirates.
When the MV Blida's crew were released, the foreign ministry confirmed that Algiers had not provided any money to free them.
After the ordeal, some crew members told AFP that they suffered "psychological torture," enduring death threats and being deprived of food and clean drinking water as they watched their Somali captors getting drunk.
More like money laundering probably.
Remember when pirates were hunted, captured and hung?
With all the money the Saudis have you’d think the Saudis could afford a couple of corvettes to guard their sea-lanes.
Somali pirates have pretty much been put out of business...
http://news.yahoo.com/no-hijacking-somali-pirates-nearly-021352909.html
too bad they didn’t have swiss bank accounts
How stupid! Lace the money with anthrax, or better yet ricin and eventually the problem is solved.
Nothing better than a dead sand monkey.
I hope they had the good sense to infect the ransom money with a slow developing but deadly disease.
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