Somali pirates demand $3m ransom

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Wednesday that Somali pirates had demanded $3 million for the release of 10 Pakistani hostages, warning that paying the ransom could have negative consequences as the Somali government's writ remained weak.

He was responding to a calling-attention notice in the National Assembly.

Ten Pakistani sailors, who have been held hostage since April, are among the crew of the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged oil tanker that was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia.

Besides the Pakistani crew members, the hostages include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan. There has been no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million.

As the proceedings of the lower house commenced, the opposition staged a strong protest over the absence of ministers.

During the question hour, PTI leader Amir Dogar criticised the absence of ministers, saying the MNAs arrived in the House on time but the ministers' seats remained vacant.

He announced a boycott of the proceedings over the issue and appealed to the PPP to join the protest before pointing out quorum.

The deputy speaker directed the staff to count the members present and later suspended the proceedings due to a lack of quorum.

The shortage and transportation restrictions on urea in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were also discussed.

Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser called for the immediate lifting of the restrictions, saying around 300,000 farmers were being affected by the shortage. He questioned the government's action against the use of urea in explosives, asking what measures had been taken under the National Action Plan.

Minister for National Food Security RanaTanveer Hussain said restrictions on urea transportation had been imposed after its use as an explosive material in recent terrorist incidents in K-P. He said a committee had been constituted to introduce a track-and-trace system for monitoring the movement of urea.

The issue of illegal passports was also raised in the House. PPP lawmaker Sharmila Faruqui expressed concern over the reported seizure of 5,000 illegal Pakistani passports in Saudi Arabia and demanded that the DG of Passports be summoned to the National Assembly.

Several bills, including those relating to the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution, National Gas Development Surcharge and Gas Infrastructure Development Cess, were also introduced during the sitting.