Assign military to free hostages in Somalia

Jakarta - A national religious figure has urged the Indonesian government to assign a military force to free the 20-man crew of the MV Sinar Kudus being held hostage by Somali pirates.

"The government should show a firm stance. Send a military force there immediately, otherwise the negotiations with the pirates will become long-winded and expensive," KH Hasyim Muzadi, secretary general of the International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS), said here Monday.

According to Hasyim, the Somali Ambassador to Indonesia Muhammad Alu had also advised the Indonesian government to use its military to free the Sinar Kudus crew members.

"The Somali Ambassador suggested that the Indonesian Navy deal with the pirates to ease the negotiations," Hasyim said here after meeting with Muhammad Ali at the latter`s house in Jakarta.

The meeting was also attended by the president director of PT Samudra Indonesia, Masli Mulya, and a famous religious cleric from Sudan, Sheikh Syarif Ahmad, who knows well the conditions in Somalia.

In the meeting, Muhammad Alu said that the Somali pirates had become an international syndicate who control the territory in which the local government had no jurisdiction.

"So, Somalia is like an apron for the international hoodlum syndicate as the Somali government could not take control," Hasyim said, adding that the Somali government would have no objections if the Indonesian government sends troops to deal with the pirates.

According to Muhammad Alu, international trading ships which cross Somali waters were always guarded by warships to prevent attacks by Somali pirates. But Indonesian ships were not.

Previously, on March 16, Somali pirates held hostage the Sinar Kudus ship in the Arabian Sea. Yhe ship was carrying a cargo of nickel from Pomalaa, South Sulawesi, to Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The pirates have raised their ransom demand to US $ 3.5 million from US$ 2.6 million.

However, PT Samudera Indonesia, the owner of Sinar Kudus ship, made a bid of US$ 1.5 million to the pirates.

PT Samudera Indonesia also asked for the assistance of the ICIS, which previously managed to free South Korean nationals who were being held hostage by Taliban in Afghanistan and commuted the Indonesian nationals who were sentenced to death in Iran.

"I am intensifying communication with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to discuss a solution to this hostage problem," Hasyim said.

source : antaranews.com