At least three Somali pirates were killed and three others wounded in an overnight gun battle over the sharing of a ransom paid for the release of a Greek-flagged supertanker, elders and pirates said.
“The fighting started during an argument over the dividing of the ransom paid for the ship,” Bashir Shiine Muse, a pirate who claims his group hijacked the Maran Centaurus, said by telephone from Haradhere today.
“Three men died and three others were wounded during the crossfire. Local elders are trying to mediate between the two sides.”
The ransom, believed to be a record $7 million, was dropped onto the tanker on Jan. 17, Muse said. “There is mistrust within the group because there are rumors that some extra money has been transferred into another bank account that some of us weren’t aware of,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment