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Somali pirates warn against fake money

DUBAI: Pirates of the hijacked Saudi supertanker have demanded ransom amid growing concerns about the impact of piracy on trade.

“Negotiators are onboard the ship and on land,” said a man identifying himself as Farah Abd Jameh, a member of the group that hijacked the Saudi tanker. In an audio tape aired by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television he added: “Once they agree on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker.” Without stating the ransom amount, he warned that an attempt to use “fake money” to pay the ransom would be futile. “We will mechanically count the money and we have machines that can detect fake money.”

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned shipping line, Vela International Marine Ltd., based in Dubai, said on Tuesday that negotiating teams had been established to seek the release of the supertanker and its 25-member crew. The ship is fully loaded with two million barrels of crude, whose value is estimated at $110 million. The Sirius Star is presently anchored close to the town of Harardhare in Somalia’s Puntland region. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-flagged ship, Delight, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday. It was bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ferrying a wheat cargo of 36,000 metric tonnes. Its 25-member crew includes nationals from India, Pakistan, Iran and the Philippines.

Piracy threatens to impede international trade through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. The hijacking of the Sirius Star is also discouraging trade towards Europe along a route hugging the South African coastline.

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