Somali pirates release ship, ransom paid

Somali pirates have released a Togo-flagged cargo ship seized last week, a U.N. aid agency said on Monday, and pirate sources said a ransom was paid.

Sea gangs have continued to hijack commercial vessels on the strategic Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean earning millions of dollars in ransoms despite the presence of foreign navies off the coast of Somalia.

"We hear from the operator that it was released," said Peter Smerdon, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP). The MV Sea Horse was on its way to pick up food for the world body when it was hijacked, but it was not under U.N. charter.

A pirate source said a $100,000 ransom was paid.

"Somali traders were involved in the release of this ship. They mediated and paid some money. I think it was not more than $100,000," the source, Hassan, told Reuters by telephone.

No independent confirmation was available.

Piracy is a lucrative business in Somalia, which has been without an effective central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.