Somalia sees end to Spanish hostage crisis in 3 weeks

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By Mohamed Ahmed

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's government expects a settlement in about three weeks with pirates holding hostage 36 crew of a Spanish fishing vessel, a source close to the Somalian prime minister said Sunday.

"The government of Spain is facing mounting pressure from its people and wants an end to this hostage crisis very quickly," the source told Reuters.

"But the situation on the ground is tough. It may take two to three weeks to secure the freedom of its nationals."

The source spoke after a meeting between the Spanish envoy to Kenya and Somalian Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke in the Kenyan capital. A second meeting would be held Monday to craft a strategy for freeing the hostages, the source added.

A pirate who identified himself as Mohamed said three Spanish sailors were still being held ashore in Somalia after being taken there from their tuna fishing vessel, the Alakrana, where the rest of the crew remain. The ship is moored off the pirates' enclave of Haradheere.

The pirate said the three would be returned to the craft only when two alleged pirates being held in Spain were freed.

Madrid should negotiate directly with the pirates, rather than trying to deal with the Somali government, he told Reuters by phone from the Alakrana which remains under pirate control.

"No one has been returned to the ship," said Mohamed.

The pirates said the three sailors were taken ashore to reassure the families of the prisoners held in Spain.

"It will ease the grief of the parents. We shall deal with them they way Spain deals with our colleagues," Mohamed said.

"DEAL WITH US," SAY PIRATES

In Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratino said he believed the entire crew of 36 was on the Alakrana. "All our reliable sources, our (intelligence) services tell us that they are all on board," he told a news conference.

The Spanish navy captured two Somalis in the Indian Ocean shortly after pirates seized the Alakrana on October 2. The suspects are set to face trial in Spain on kidnapping and other charges.

Moratino said Spain was directing its diplomatic efforts at authorities in Mogadishu. "The Somali government has to guarantee the security and integrity of all the crew," he said. "With this greater diplomatic effort, we think we can get results quicker."

But Mohamed said Madrid had to deal with the pirates, not Sharmarke, whose government controls little of its lawless country.

"This has nothing to do with Sharmarke, it concerns parents and missing sons," Abdulahi Abdisalan, an uncle of one of the pirates held in Spain, told Reuters.

"Even if a ransom is paid, whatever amount, we will not release (the hostages) unless we get our sons back to Haradheere."

Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers Association, also told Reuters the latest information he had indicated three of the Spanish were still being held onshore.

Several crew are Spanish and others are of nationalities including the Seychelles, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Senegal.

The Alakrana's first mate Ricardo Blach said he did not know whether all the crew were on board, telling Spanish television by phone that the ship's captain had been separated from the rest of the crew early on.

Moratinos said the Alakrana's crew had food and water, but Blach said they had been without water since Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Judy Macinnes in Madrid and Abdiaziz Hassan in Nairobi; writing by Duncan Miriri; editing by Andrew Roche)

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