Report: Pirates mistreating hostages on seized Egyptian ship

Jan 12, 2009, 11:10 GMT

Cairo - An Egyptian man being held hostage on a pirated ship off the coast of Somalia for nearly two weeks has accused the pirates of mistreating their captives and appealed for help, Egypt's leading independent newspaper reported Monday.

Ibrahim Etman, one of 28 Egyptian crew aboard the cargo ship Blue Star when it was seized by pirates on January 1, had phoned his daughter to ask for help, she told the daily Al-Masry al-Youm.

Mona Ibrahim Etman told the daily the pirates began mistreating the hostages when the owners of the ship refused to pay a 75,000- dollar ransom, ceased negotiating, and stopped answering the pirates' phone calls.

According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, about 15 heavily-armed pirates took control of the Blue Star as it sailed east from the Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Shipping companies have begun diverting maritime traffic away from the Suez Canal in response to the recent escalation in pirate attacks south of the Red Sea.

In response to the decline in canal traffic, Egypt announced on January 5 it would indefinitely freeze transit fees for ships passing through the canal.

Egypt depends heavily on the Suez Canal for revenue. According to official figures, Egypt earned 5.11 billion dollars from the Suez Canal in 2008.