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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SOMALIA: Hijacked ship to be released - WFP
NAIROBI, 8 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - The Kenyan-registered ship that was hijacked off the northeastern coast of Somalia in June en-route to deliver food aid is to be released with its cargo and crew, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said.
"An agreement with community leaders and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government [TFG] to allow the release of the hijacked ship, its 10-member crew and its cargo of WFP food within days has been reached," WFP said in a statement on Saturday.
The MV Semlow was hijacked on 27 June between Haradhere and Hobyo, some 400 km northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, on its way to Bossaso, in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland.
The vessel had been chartered by WFP to deliver 850 tonnes of rice to survivors of the 26 December Indian Ocean tsunami, which devastated much of Somalia's northeastern coastline.
WFP said the agreement was reached at a meeting on Friday in Jowhar - the interim seat of the TFG - between diplomats from Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, local leaders and WFP country director Robert Hauser.
According to WFP, the "elders and community leaders on behalf of the hijackers agreed to release the ship to go to the Somali port of El Maan within the next three days".
It agreed that the rice be handed over to the TFG in El Maan, a port in north Mogadishu, to be distributed to communities in central regions of Somalia. Normal food distributions would continue as planned in the region.
The hijackers had complained that their area [South Mudug, in central Somalia] had been "neglected" by aid agencies, "even though it was affected by the tsunami", their spokesman told IRIN.
The TFG and the elders guaranteed that after the cargo was unloaded, the Semlow would be allowed to travel back to its base, WFP said.
"We are grateful to the Somali TFG and the Kenyan ambassador for their combined efforts to ensure the vessel, food and most importantly the 10-member crew who have suffered greatly during this ordeal will be released unconditionally," Hauser, said.
On 28 July, the hijackers promised to release the Kenyan crew of the ship, but failed to keep their promise.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2005
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