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Hostages freed from pirates off Somalia, Nigeria

Pirates freed 20 hostages aboard a Turkish freighter commandeered off the Somali coast, as nine captives on a French boat were released off southern Nigeria, the boat owners said on Wednesday.

  • AP
  • Published: 16:36 January 7, 2009
  • Gulf News

Paris: Pirates freed 20 hostages aboard a Turkish freighter commandeered off the Somali coast, as nine captives on a French boat were released off southern Nigeria, the boat owners said on Wednesday.

The Yasa Holding Co. said pirates freed the Yasa Neslihan freighter on Tuesday after paying a ransom. The Turkish ship was seized Oct. 29 in the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean near Somalia.

"They asked for ransom and it has been paid," company spokesman Fehmi Ulgener said. He refused to disclose the amount paid. "All the crew members are fine and their morale is high."

Nine hostages and a French boat seized by pirates off oil-rich Nigeria's southern coast were freed safely early on Wednesday, said the boat's French owner, Bourbon.

A statement from the company said the hostages, all crew members, were in good health and will return to their families. It provided no details of how the group and boat, the Bourbon Leda, were freed or whether any ransom was paid.

Bourbon, which provides specialist boats for the oil and gas industry, expressed thanks to the Nigerian authorities for their cooperation.

Pirates hijacked the Bourbon Leda on Sunday with five Nigerians, two Ghanaians, one Cameroonian and one Indonesian aboard.

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