Somali pirates threaten to sell organs of hostages held since March

Somali pirates threaten to sell organs of hostages held since March

2010-10-07 07:11:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

GULF OF ADEN (BNO NEWS) – Somali pirates on Wednesday threatened to kill and sell the body organs of the 22 hostages held since late March if their ransom demands are not met in the near future.

Media reports say the information was received via a text message from one of the hostages. The message read that the pirates will kill them and then remove their eyes and kidneys in order to be sold, if they do not receive the asked ransom.

The pirate leader allegedly said that they will auction the captives' organs in an open bid because they will get more money this way than what they ask for ransom. The crew consists in 6 Indians, 9 Yemen, 4 Ghanaians, 2 Sudanese and 1 Filipino.

On March 29, the Panama-flagged vessel, MV Iceberg 1, was hijacked off Somalia. The pirates attacked the vessel approximately 10 miles outside the Gulf of Aden port.

The ship was carrying a mixed cargo of general mechanical equipment and was bound for Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates. The pirates have asked repeatedly for ransom but the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers as a policy.

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