Negotiations with pirates progressing
Bangladesh is in com-munication with the Somali pirates, regarding the release of Bangladeshi sailors on the hijacked MV Abdullah, said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday.
"We are taking various measures. Our purpose is to ensure the sailors' release and rescue of the ship," said the minister during a press briefing at his office.
"In this regard, we have made much progress," he added.
On March 12, Somali pirates hijacked MV Abdullah, 600 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.
Nine days after taking the Bangladeshi ship hostage with 23 sailors, the pirates contacted the owners. The ship is allegedly anchored near Mozambique.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said owners are not in favour of military operations on hostage ships.
Regarding food shortage, he said that has not happened in the past when ships were hijacked. Hopefully, it won't happen this time, he added.
Earlier, Mizanul Islam, media adviser of KSRM Group -- the ship's owning group, had said food was still available.
Asked about Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus' award from Unesco, Hasan Mahmud said he was surprised that Yunus Centre "falsified" the award.
It is not a Unesco award. There was a conference related to Unesco in Azerbaijan, when an Israeli sculptor provided the award, he said.
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