Kidnapping For Ransom: Somali pirates demand more money

KARACHI: The Somali pirates have increased the ransom for Pakistani hostages by $80,000 but social worker Ansar Burney has promised that the money will be arranged. Sources said the amount was jacked up when the original payment was delayed. Burney said that it is expected that the kidnapped sailors will come back by June 8. He told Express News that $2.1 million and the additional $80,000 will be paid on June 2. He met the officials of the Red Sea Navigation Company and discussed their plan. It is likely that the hostages will arrive at some other port given the unstable conditions in Yemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2011.