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02-10-2009

Pirates Hijack Spanish Fishing Boat In Indian Ocean

  Reuters - Madrid - Somali pirates hijacked a Spanish tuna fishing boat in the Indian Ocean, the regional government of the Basque Country and a pirate spokesman said Friday.

European military aircraft flew over the "Alakrana" when it failed to make a routine call and saw armed men aboard, a spokesman for the Basque government said.

A source in the pirate haven of Haradheere, on the Somali coast north of the capital Mogadishu, confirmed that the boat had been taken.

"Our friends from Kismayu hijacked a fishing boat with its crew late last night," pirate Hassan told Reuters by phone. "They are on the way to Haradheere. No warship can stop us."

The Alakrana, which has a crew of 36 and a home port in the Basque Country, featured in Spanish media reports last week when its captain described how bad weather had helped his vessel escape a previous pirate attack.

Gangs from Somalia -- some made up of former fishermen angered by the presence of foreign fishing boats in their waters -- have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia.

Their attacks have continued despite patrols by foreign navies off the lawless Horn of Africa state.


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