Contact Established With Pirates Holding French Yacht
From France 24/7 and AFP
France has made contact with pirates holding a luxury French cruise yacht with around 30 crew off the coast of Somalia, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview Sunday.
"We've made contact and the matter could last a long time," Kouchner told France Inter. "Our contact needs to be fruitful and we have to do everything to avoid bloodshed."
He did not rule out the payment of a ransom to secure the release of the crew -- 22 French nationals and around 10 Ukrainians.
The French military kept up its surveillance of the hijacked vessel as it was taken toward a pirate lair off northeast Somalia, officials said earlier.
Defence Minister Herve Morin said there could be no military intervention unless the safety of the crew could be guaranteed.
Any order to launch a military operation "cannot be taken unless there is certainty that this will happen in secure conditions that preserve the integrity of the crew," he said.
Somali officials said that the 32-cabin yacht, the Ponant, was seized on Friday
Since then a dozen pirates had stayed on board and it had travelled more than 400 kilometres (249 miles) south, along the Somali coast.
"We are getting information that the pirates are now moving towards the southern coastal area of Garaad where I believe they will stay," said Abdullahi Said Aw-Yusuf, an official with the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
for the full story including a picture, go to http://www.france24.com/en/20080406-contact-pirates-yacht-somalia-france-ponant&navi=MONDE
France has made contact with pirates holding a luxury French cruise yacht with around 30 crew off the coast of Somalia, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview Sunday.
"We've made contact and the matter could last a long time," Kouchner told France Inter. "Our contact needs to be fruitful and we have to do everything to avoid bloodshed."
He did not rule out the payment of a ransom to secure the release of the crew -- 22 French nationals and around 10 Ukrainians.
The French military kept up its surveillance of the hijacked vessel as it was taken toward a pirate lair off northeast Somalia, officials said earlier.
Defence Minister Herve Morin said there could be no military intervention unless the safety of the crew could be guaranteed.
Any order to launch a military operation "cannot be taken unless there is certainty that this will happen in secure conditions that preserve the integrity of the crew," he said.
Somali officials said that the 32-cabin yacht, the Ponant, was seized on Friday
Since then a dozen pirates had stayed on board and it had travelled more than 400 kilometres (249 miles) south, along the Somali coast.
"We are getting information that the pirates are now moving towards the southern coastal area of Garaad where I believe they will stay," said Abdullahi Said Aw-Yusuf, an official with the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
for the full story including a picture, go to http://www.france24.com/en/20080406-contact-pirates-yacht-somalia-france-ponant&navi=MONDE
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