11 crew hijacked

Eleven Indonesian crewmembers of a Malaysian tugboat have been taken hostage by Somali pirates, the Indonesian foreign ministry said on Friday.

Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizahsyah said that the crew, who were in Yemeni waters, were hijacked on Dec 16 and taken to Somali waters, he told Xinhua, adding that efforts to free them had been carried out in coordination with the Malaysian government.

(China Daily 12/20/2008 page11)