& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Somali pirates release Saudi supertanker

AFP, Nairobi
Somali Dirates said yesterday they haa freed a Saudi-owned supertanker, whose capture nearly two months ago wreaked panic in international shipping and spurred the world into tougher anti-piracy action.
The 330-metre Sirius Star, owned by the shipping ann of oil giant Saudi Aramco, was seized far off the east African coast on November 15, in what was the pirates' most daring attack ana largest catch to date.
"AU our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free," Mohamed Said, one of the leaders of the pirate group, told AFP bv tele phone from the pirate lair of Harardhere
'There were last-minute problems but now everything has been finalised. "
Sahafi Abdi Aden, speaking from the same town on Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, also said the hijacking was over.
' 1 am in Harardhere n6wand the issue of the Sirius Star was resolved peacefully I cannot go into the details of the agreement but I can say that the ship is free,'he told AFP
"No member of the crew or of the pirates was hurt during this hijacking."
The amount of the ransom paid for the ship's release was not yet known. Pirates had told AFP days after seizing the Sirius Star they wanted 25 million dollars (18 million euros) for its release but the latest reports indicated that the demand had been lowered to around 3.5 million.
The Sirius Star was man ufac -tured in South Korea and deliv-ered last year. It is believed to be worth around 150 million dollars and its cargo was estimated at the time of the hijack ingat 100 million dollars.
The crew of the Sirius Star is made up of 25 people from Britain, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Poland, where the ship's captain hails from.
Pirates operating off Somalia's coast, in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, have carried out more than 130
attacks in 2008 alone, turning the region into the world's most dangerous waters.
The capture of th e Sirius Star, which is carrying close to a fourth of top world producer Saudi Arabia s daily output, sent shockwaves through the world 's shipping industry.
The Gulf of Aden is a key maritime trade route, where thousands of ships bottle-neck Into the Red Sea before heading to the Suez canal, linking Europe to Asia.