Frenchwoman rescued from pirates

11 September 2011 Last updated at 07:48 GMT The Spanish warship SPS Galicia intercepted the suspects' skiff A French hostage has been rescued from pirates off Yemen and her captors detained but her husband remains missing, EU defence officials say.

Spanish troops operating with the EU's anti-piracy force, Navfor, intercepted a skiff on Saturday, two days after the hostages' catamaran was found.

The hostage was released and seven suspected pirates were detained, officials said.

The freed hostage was named as Evelyne Colombo by French news agency AFP.

She and her husband Christian Colombo, a former French navy crewman, were experienced sailors who wanted to see the world and were aware of the risks of sailing through the Gulf of Aden, AFP reports.

"She was the only hostage on board the skiff," EU naval spokesman Paul Gelly said. "Her husband was not on board."

Unharmed

The Spanish warship SPS Galicia had tracked the pirate skiff after Navfor received a distress call from the catamaran Tribal Kat, which was found abandoned in waters off Yemen.

After the skiff ignored an order to stop, the commander of the Galicia ordered his men to open fire, and a naval warfare team fired on the boat's engine to disable it.

The skiff was subsequently sunk but the hostage and seven pirates were picked up, the Spanish defence ministry was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

Navfor said the freed hostage had not been wounded or injured during the operation, and all the suspected pirates had been detained unharmed.

Somali pirates have targeted shipping, both commercial and pleasure craft, off the Horn of Africa for years.

They currently hold at least 30 vessels and their crews, keeping them moored along the coast of the war-torn country, which has not had a functioning government for two decades.

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Pirates release Danish family from 'horrible ordeal'

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Danish yachting family held hostage by Somali pirates for more than six months has been released and is returning home after enduring "the most horrible ordeal one can imagine," government officials said.

Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three teenage children were captured along with two Danish crew members on Feb. 24 as their 43-foot (13-meter) yacht was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

All seven "were released Tuesday and are doing well under the circumstances. They are in a plane on their way to Denmark," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Charlotte Slente said.

She declined to comment further on the circumstances of the release and wouldn't say whether a ransom had been paid.

The Johansens, from Kalundborg, 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Copenhagen, were on a round-the-world journey when they approached the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa. Their travel blog showed they were aware of the dangers but didn't expect to get into trouble, and were comforted by the sight of anti-piracy forces patrolling the vast area.

News of their release was met with relief in their home town.

"The family very likely is aware that what they did was not so fortunate. They certainly feel pretty bad about it now," said Ole Meridin Petersen, chairman of the Kalundborg yacht club, in which Jan Quist Johansen was a member.

Hostages are held in hot, austere conditions in Somalia — typically for many months — before a ransom is agreed on and paid, and the hijacked ships and crew are released. Last year, a British sailing couple were released after 388 days in captivity. Reports indicated that a ransom in the region of $1 million was paid for their release.

Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen told Danish news agency Ritzau that Denmark doesn't pay ransom "as a matter of principle," adding it was the family, not the Foreign Ministry, that had been negotiating with the pirates. The family was "advised by professional negotiators," she said.

Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said negotiations carried on for "a long period" before the hostages were freed.

"I am really happy on behalf of the family, which since Feb. 24 has been through the most horrible ordeal one can imagine," Loekke Rasmussen said. "It is important that we now give the family quiet and peace."

The Foreign Ministry said two Danes and four Filipinos from Danish cargo ship M/V Leopard are still being held by Somali pirates after the vessel was attacked off Somalia on Jan. 12, 2011.

Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, one of the reasons the piracy trade has flourished.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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