Somali pirates free 11 Indian sailors
Eleven Indian sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates were released Wednesday but there were many other Indians still held hostage on ships owned by foreign companies, including 79 aboard an Egyptian cargo vessel, MV Suez
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“Eleven Indian sailors on ship RAK Africana are released by Somali pirates. They have been picked up by Spanish naval ship in vicinity — r safe (sic),” foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said in a message posted on her Twitter account.
The ship, MV RAK Africana, was reported to have been seized approximately 280 nautical miles west of the Seychelles in April 2010. There were 21 crew members on board, including 11 Indians.
The negotiations for their release were “delicate and prolonged” but in the end the owner of the ship, who is based in the UAE, “settled the case”, Ms Rao said without elaborating.
Since the engines of the vessel were not working, the Indian consulate in Dubai and the Indian Navy requested a Spanish vessel in the vicinity for help.
The MV RAK Africana is owned by a Seychelles company and it is registered in the Saint Vincent, an island in the Caribbean.
However, the fate other Indian hostages, including the 79 Indian sailors aboard MV Suez was uncertain as the hostage-takers’ ultimatum for ransom to be paid was reportedly to expire Wednesday.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA), which has drawn flak for the slow pace of evacuation of Indian nationals from strife-torn Libya, finds itself in the line of fire again, this time over the issue of Indian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates. Criticism has spilled onto the internet, and the fate of the Indian hostages dominates the discourse in Twitterverse (universe of Twitter). Questions are being asked as to why New Delhi is not doing enough and quickly at that to secure the safe release of the hostages. Why doesn’t the government agree to pay ransom if it will help save lives? Why does the government not consider the option of using force to rescue the hostages? The questions only got shriller as the deadline for the execution of some sailors drew nearer. The hostage-takers’ ultimatum for ransom to be paid was reportedly to expire Wednesday.
Twitter is fast becoming a platform to engage in a discussion, aided in part by the fact that Indian politicians, and now, increasingly, Indian diplomats, have taken to Twitter.
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