MADRID — Spain said Friday it would not free two captured pirates as demanded by their fellow hijackers who are holding a Spanish trawler and 33 crew members off the coast of Somalia.The trawler's captain told Spanish media Thursday that the pirates on board had threatened to start killing the hostages.Deputy Defense Minister Constantino Mendez said Friday the two Somali men were captured in connection with the hijacking of the Spanish-registered tuna boat Alakrana on Oct. 2 in the Indian Ocean and brought to Madrid.He told Spanish National Radio: "The situation is not negotiable."However, he seemed to leave open a possibility of transferring them to the court system of another country.Pirates holding the Alakrana took three crew members ashore to Somalia on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.The wives of two crew members who spoke to their husbands Thursday said the pirates are demanding the release of the two in custody in Madrid as a condition for letting the ship and its crew go.
MADRID — Spain said Friday it would not free two captured pirates as demanded by their fellow hijackers who are holding a Spanish trawler and 33 crew members off the coast of Somalia.
The trawler's captain told Spanish media Thursday that the pirates on board had threatened to start killing the hostages.
Deputy Defense Minister Constantino Mendez said Friday the two Somali men were captured in connection with the hijacking of the Spanish-registered tuna boat Alakrana on Oct. 2 in the Indian Ocean and brought to Madrid.
He told Spanish National Radio: "The situation is not negotiable."
However, he seemed to leave open a possibility of transferring them to the court system of another country.
Pirates holding the Alakrana took three crew members ashore to Somalia on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.
The wives of two crew members who spoke to their husbands Thursday said the pirates are demanding the release of the two in custody in Madrid as a condition for letting the ship and its crew go.