Somali pirates release Togo-flagged ship

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released a Togo-flagged cargo ship seized last week, a U.N. aid agency said on Monday, but it was unclear whether a ransom was paid for the nearly 5,000-tonne vessel.

Sea gangs have made millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking commercial vessels in busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes, linking Europe to Asia, despite foreign navies patrolling the Somali coast.

"We hear from the operator that it was released," said Peter Smerdon, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).

The MV Sea Horse was on its way to pick up food for the aid group when it was hijacked but it was not under U.N. charter.

A pirate source said a $100,000 (69,000 pound) ransom was paid.

"Somali traders were involved in the release of this ship. They mediated and paid some money. I think it was not more than $100,000," the source, Hassan, told Reuters by telephone.

The Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, which monitors piracy, said no money changed hands.

Pirates attacked at least 15 vessels off the coast in March after attacks on only two in January and February.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.

(Additional reporting and writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Louise Ireland)