Sailor hostages released from Somali pirates

8:34 PM Sat 12 Sep 2009 GMT

'Somalia militia - quite serious about enforcement' .

The three sailors from SV Serenity, held as hostages since 9th March, who were freed by Somali pirates and arrested again by the authorities of Puntland, have been released and landed safely in Kenya, on their way home to the Seychelles.

'Three Seychellois citizens have arrived in Kenya, following their release from the protective custody of the Puntland authorities in Somalia,' said a statement from the Seychelles president's office.

'Conrad Andre, Gilbert Victor and Robin Samson arrived on a flight from Garowe,' in the northern Somali semi-autonomous state of Puntland, it said.

The three were sailing on the Indian Ocean in February when Somali pirates hijacked their catamaran SV Serenity in March. The fate of the Serenity is still in doubt, with conflicting reports coming from the troubled territory.

The pirates released them on Saturday in the Puntland piracy hub of Gara'ad but the hostages, the crews of two planes flying them back, and two facilitators were detained by Puntland during a re-fueling stop in Galkayo.

The release by the pirates came after the Seychelles repatriated 23 suspected Somali pirates it had been holding, arguing that lack of evidence did not allow for prosecution.

The sequence sparked accusations by Puntland that the Seychelles was undermining anti-piracy efforts by swapping pirates for its own hostages, allegations the tiny island state has denied.

by Agence France-Presse/Sail-World

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