Pirates free UN, Indian ships seized off Somalia

NAIROBI (AFP) - Pirates have released a UN-chartered cargo ship and an Indian vessel they captured in the unpatrolled waters off the coast of Somalia, a maritime official said Saturday.

Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme said the hijackers freed the MV Rozen on Friday, more than a month after it was seized after delivering relief food shipped by the UN World Food Programme.

"Information reaching us indicates that MV Rozen has been released and it is expected in Mombasa anytime," Mwangura told AFP. "It was released yesterday. We are told that the crew is fine."

Mwangura added that the hijackers also released the MV Nimatullah, an Indian cargo vessel seized April 1 as it anchored at Mogadishu port, and its 14-member crew.

"We also have information that MV Nimatullah has been released. It was also released yesterday."

The hijackers forced the MV Nimatullah to sail to waters off northeastern Somalia where it had been held since the weekend.

The 800-tonne ship was ferrying general household goods to Mogadishu, where Ethiopian forces have been battling local clan militia opposed to their presence in the war-torn capital.

In late February, gunmen captured the UN-chartered Rozen and held it near Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland to the north with its six-man crew.

The WFP said it welcomed the release of the ship.

"The WFP welcomes the release of the hijacked vessel MV Rozen and its crew," the agency said in a statement.

"The threat of piracy is still very much alive in Somali waters and WFP urges the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) and the Puntland authorities to curb these menaces," said Peter Goossens, WFP's director for Somalia.

Mwangura, however, said that the ships could once more fall prey to pirates who are suspected to be waiting for their release.

"We also have information that a group of hijackers are waiting to capture the ships after they are released," he told AFP by telephone from the Kenya port town of Mombasa.

The unpatrolled waters off the 3,700-kilometer (2,300-mile) Somali coastline saw scores of pirate attacks between March 2005 and June last year, but these stopped during six months of strict Islamist rule of south and central Somalia.

On Tuesday, another cargo ship escaped seizure at Mogadishu port when gunmen in speed boats opened fire at the UAE-registered vessel, MV Nishan.

Somalia has lacked an effective central governemnt since the ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre that touched off a bloody power struggle that exploded into inter-clan warfare that has defied more than 14 attempts to restore a functional government in Somalia.