By Emmanuel Jarry
PARIS (Reuters) - The 30-strong crew of a luxury Frenchyacht have been freed without incident a week after piratestook them hostage off Somalia, President Nicolas Sarkozy'soffice said in a statement on Friday.
France dispatched a warship and special forces to theregion after the pirates stormed the three-mast boat in theGulf of Aden last Friday. It was not immediately clear if theyhad played any part in the release of the crew.
"The president expresses his deep gratitude to the Frencharmed forces and all the state services which enabled a rapidand peaceful solution to this hostage-taking," the Elyseestatement said.
Sarkozy was due to meet relatives of the crew at 5 p.m. (4p.m. British time) and his office said it would give moredetails about their release afterwards.
The foreign ministry said the crew, 22 of whom were Frenchand the rest mainly Ukrainian and Korean, would be repatriatedas soon as possible.
The pirates had sailed the yacht, the Ponant, to the Somalicoast, eventually mooring the vessel at Garacade, near the townof Eyl. French officials said earlier this week they believedthe group wanted a ransom and were not terrorists.
Piracy is lucrative off lawless Somalia and most kidnapperstreat their captives well in anticipation of a good ransom. Itwas not clear if any ransom was paid in this case.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in astatement on Friday he wanted to see a crackdown on piracy inthe region, with the United Nations getting more involved inthe struggle.
"The international community must mobilise for a determinedfight against acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off theSomali coast," he said, adding that France had already escortedhumanitarian shipments headed for Somalia.
French officials had warned that it might take weeks tosecure the release of the Ponant crew, saying that previoushostage crises in the region took on average 40 days toresolve.
The Ponant is owned by the Compagnie des Iles du Ponant andwas heading from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean Sea whenit was hijacked. It can hold 64 passengers but had noholidaymakers aboard when the pirates struck.
(Writing by Crispian Balmer, editing Jon Boyle)
