ISLAMABAD – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has tasked Interior Minister Rehman Malik with taking measures for the release of Pakistani hostages held by Somali pirates.
According to sources, President Zardari late on Monday night telephoned the interior minister and directed him to leave no stone unturned for the recovery of hostages as the deadline given by the pirates ends on Tuesday.
The kin of the hostages are in perpetual pain since the pirates commandeered the MV Albedo ship off the coast of Somalia in November 2010 carrying Pakistani sailors.
Initially, the Somali pirates had demanded a ransom worth $8 million. Further negotiations brought the figure down to around $ 2.85 million. The Head of Pakistan Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, bought some more time after entreating with the hostage-takers getting the deadline extended to May 15.
The families, meanwhile, had been struggling to collect the money. They are short of $1.4 million, which they were desperately trying to collect before the deadline.
