Seamen freed from armed pirates

Seamen freed from armed pirates

INDONESIA: Authorities freed all 11 crew of a fishing vessel seized by pirates in the Malacca Strait, and arrested the attackers, who were Aceh separatist rebels, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

More than a quarter of the world's trade and half of its oil pass through the Malacca Straits.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says armed piracy, including attacks on oil tankers, is increasing in the Malacca Strait and other waters between the Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

All three pirates, captured during a rescue operation on Thursday, were members of the group of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a military spokesman in war-torn Aceh said.

"The pirate attack was carried out by GAM," spokesman Asep Sapari said in the provincial capital city of Banda Aceh.

-- Reuters