Spain works to free 33 crew held by Somali pirates

BERMEO, Spain (AP) — Spain said Saturday it is working to free 33 crewmembers of a fishing vessel held by Somali pirates as thousands of friends and relatives rallied for their release.

Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said he planed to meet Somali leader Ali Sharmarke Abdirashid Omar in Kenya.

In the northern Spanish port of Bermeo — the home base for the kidnapped crew of the vessel Alakrana — thousands braved pouring rain and hail to unfurl a banner reading "Freedom for our fishermen."

The fishing port's siren sounded, then the crowd held a 15-minute silence in honor of the men aboard the hijacked ship.

On Thursday the skipper of the vessel, Ricardo Blach, said heavily armed pirates had taken three of his crewmembers off the ship to the mainland. He said the pirates were threatening to kill them if two pirates captured by Spain were not freed.

Moratinos announced Friday that the three crewmembers had returned safely to the ship.

The two Somali men were captured and brought to Madrid for their alleged role in the hijacking of the Alakrana on Oct. 2 in tuna-rich waters of the Indian Ocean. The two suspects are due to face trial in Spain for kidnapping and other charges.

Deputy Defense Minister Constantino Mendez said the charges facing the two Somali men were not negotiable. But he kept open the possibility of transferring them to a court in another country, as Spain did in a similar case in May.

In that instance Spanish naval forces caught seven young pirates trying to hijack a Panamanian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden.

Spanish courts initially considered bringing them to face justice in Madrid but ultimately delivered them for trial in Kenya, which has signed an anti-piracy agreement with the European Union.