* Crew was held hostage by pirates for 10 months
* Ship still at sea, naval forces providing security
Somali pirates on Thursday released an Algerian cargo ship and its 25 crew they had been holding hostage for 10 months, the Algerian foreign ministry said.
The vessel, the MV Blida, was captured on Jan. 1 while heading to the port of Mombasa in Kenya. The hostages included 17 Algerians. Two crewmen, an Algerian and an Ukrainian, had previously been released on humanitarian grounds.
"It is with great joy and profound relief that we announce the release this morning of the 25 sailors of the crew of the MV Blida ship held hostage by Somali pirates," foreign ministry spokesman Amar Belani was quoted by the official APS news agency as saying.
He said the state of their health "raises no worries." The spokesman gave no details about the nationality of the other sailors.
"Algeria will make every effort to ensure that the perpetrators of this act of piracy are prosecuted and tried by the competent bodies," he said.
He said the cargo vessel was on its way back to Algeria and international naval forces were providing security. (Reporting By Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Sophie Hares)
Source: Reuters
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