Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, they said Wednesday as a Philippines-managed bulk carrier fell victim to hijacking off the nation's lawless coast. The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have dropped to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina, one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast, by early Tuesday."We have withdrawn it," spokesman Sugule Ali told the Associated Press on Wednesday by satellite phone from the ship, which pirates seized with its cargo of tanks and heavy weapons off the coast of Somalia on September 25.
Relatives of Ukrainian crew members on the Faina have insisted Kiev pay the ransom.
Ali, the pirate spokesman, said negotiations were going very well, but he declined to say who was negotiating. In the past they have said they were talking with the ship's owner. The Tomex Corp. of Odessa, Ukraine, which operates the ship, has not commented on negotiations.