Hunt of the Sea Wolves

RTT News

Spain on Friday refused to release two captured Somali pirates in exchange for three Spanish nationals seized by pirates from a fishing trawler off Somalia last month, stressing that it will not negotiate with the pirates.

Spain’s Deputy Defense Minister Constantino Mendez said Friday that the “situation” was non-negotiable. Mendez, however, said that his government might consider transferring the two captured pirates to another jurisdiction, instead of releasing them.

“One can discuss issues of jurisdiction at length. They have many angles and the law is not mathematics,” Mendez said. He also hinted at the possibility of launching a military operation to free the crew of the hijacked vessel.

Mendez’s remarks came after the pirates holding a Spanish fishing boat and its crew off the Somali coast threatened to kill three Spanish crew-members if the two pirate suspects held in Spain were not returned immediately.

Pirates had hijacked the fishing vessel, the Alakrana, in international waters off Somalia on 2nd October and are currently holding the fishing boat’s 36 crew-members hostage. While 16 of the hijacked ship’s crew are from Spain, the remaining are from Africa and Asia.

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