HIJACKED SHIP Talks with Somali pirates 'underway' | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com
Talks with Somali pirates 'underway'
Tue, Dec 7th, 2010 8:42 pm
Dhaka, Dec 7 (bdnews24.com)The government has started negotiations with Somali pirates to free the seized Bangladeshi ship and its sailors, two ministers have said.
Foreign minister Dipu Moni and shipping minister Shajahan Khan told these to the editors and representatives of news media at a meeting on Tuesday.
An editor, on conditions of anonymity, told bdnews24.com: "It was claimed in the meeting that contact has been established with pirates' representatives through various organisations involved in rescue process."
Information has it that the ship is still in the Arabian Sea and that the sailors were in good health. However, it might take two more days for the ship to reach the shore.
"However, we have not been able to contact the pirates ourselves and will have to wait until the ship reaches shore," Moni added.
At the end of meeting, the foreign minister said, "We have already contacted rescue organisations of various countries to help us recover the ship and free the sailors. The organisations have established contact with the representatives of the pirates."
The Bangladesh-flagged ship, 'MV Jahan Moni', was hijacked by pirates on Sunday around 3.45pm in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India. Twenty-five Bangladeshi sailors and the family of one sailor were on board.
On Sunday night, the shipping minister denied the ship was from Bangladesh. He told bdnews24.com, "It is a Malaysian ship."