Pirates Generous offer to the Wahhabi Thieves

Somali 'pirates' who pulled off the largest hijacking in maritime history have reduced their ransom for a Saudi supertanker to £10 million.

The Sirius Star - which has £67 million worth of oil on board and 25 crew members from Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines - was captured on November 15.

The gang had originally been quoted as wanting £17 million to release the tanker, which was captured far from Somali waters about 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya.

But Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Isse Adow, whose men are in the Haradheere area where the ship is being held offshore, said the demand went down. "Middlemen have given a $15 million ransom figure for the Saudi ship. That is the issue now," he said.

Residents say pirates have taken the ship further out to about 60 miles off the coast of central Somalia after Islamist militia poured into the town in search of the pirates.

Mr Adow, who represents the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), says his men are out to confront the pirates and free the Saudi Arabian Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) because it is a "Muslim" ship. ITN