Pirate claims ransom paid for Spanish hostages

A self-proclaimed pirate and a village elder in Somalia says that pirates holding a Spanish trawler and 36 hostages have been paid $3.3m (€2.2m), and are freeing the ship and crew.

A Somali villager named Ali Ahmed Salad says 12 armed pirates who have been holding the ship for the last six weeks left it shortly after noon today and joined colleagues near the town of Haradhere.