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| Saudi owners 'talking to pirates' | Saudi owners 'talking to pirates' |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| The owners of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are negotiating a possible ransom, the Saudi foreign minister has said. | The owners of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are negotiating a possible ransom, the Saudi foreign minister has said. |
| The Sirius Star is the biggest tanker ever hijacked, carrying a cargo of two million barrels of Saudi oil - worth more than $100m (£67m). | The Sirius Star is the biggest tanker ever hijacked, carrying a cargo of two million barrels of Saudi oil - worth more than $100m (£67m). |
| Saudi's Prince Saud al-Faisal did not confirm whether a ransom was likely to be agreed, but said talks had begun. | Saudi's Prince Saud al-Faisal did not confirm whether a ransom was likely to be agreed, but said talks had begun. |
| Meanwhile, the Indian navy says it has sunk a suspected pirate "mother ship". | Meanwhile, the Indian navy says it has sunk a suspected pirate "mother ship". |
| INS Tabar sank what was believed to be a Somali pirate "mother ship" after it failed to stop for investigation and instead opened fire in the Gulf of Aden, an Indian navy statement said. We do not like to negotiate with either terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens Prince Saud al-Faisal | |
| The navy said the pirates on board were armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Some of the pirates escaped in speedboats. | |
| There has been a surge in piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia during 2008. On Tuesday, a cargo ship and a fishing vessel became the latest to join more than 90 vessels attacked by the pirates this year. | |
| The pirates who seized the MV Sirius Star and its 25 crew on Saturday are a sophisticated group with contacts in Dubai and neighbouring countries, says the BBC Somali Service's Yusuf Garaad. | |
| Much of their ransom money from previous hijackings has been used to buy new boats and weapons as well as develop a network across the Horn of Africa, he adds. | |
| 'Scourge' of seas | |
| Asked whether a ransom was being negotiated, the Saudi foreign minister said the decision rested with the owners of the tanker. | Asked whether a ransom was being negotiated, the Saudi foreign minister said the decision rested with the owners of the tanker. |
| "We do not like to negotiate with either terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens there," Prince Saud al-Faisal said. | "We do not like to negotiate with either terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens there," Prince Saud al-Faisal said. |
| Two of the captive crew on the Sirius Star are British. The BBC has learnt that one of them is Peter French, who is married with a 17-year-old daughter. He is thought to be the chief engineer on board the vessel. | |
| The UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said piracy was "a scourge wherever it appears anywhere in the world and at the moment the scourge is focused in the Gulf of Aden". | |
| He said the Royal Navy was co-ordinating the European response to the incident. | |
| Shipping companies are now weighing up the risks of using the short-cut route to Europe via the Gulf of Aden and Suez canal. | |
| However, travelling around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope would add several weeks to average journey times and substantially increase the cost of goods for consumers. |