Italy: Police quizz hostages on return from Somalia

Italian anti-terrorism police have interviewed a group of Italians hostages freed by Somali pirates. Ten Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian were travelling aboard the cargo ship Buccaneer in the Gulf of Aden when they were captured by pirates on 11 April.

The group was freed last Sunday and the Italians were flow into Rome's Ciampino airport late Thursday aboard a military aircraft.
The ship's captain, Mario Iarlori, and the first officer, Mario Albano, and eight other Italians were met by police from the Division of General Investigations and Special Operations (DIGOS) and other agencies on their return.

The pair spoke to police until the early hours of Friday morning and recounting details of the conditions they faced during their capture.
Sources told Adnkronos that the men were questioned as part of an inquiry being conducted by Italian anti-terrorism prosecutors led by Pietro Saviotti into piracy and terrorism.

Saviotti is expected to decide in the next few days whether to question other members of the ship's crew.

There has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden since the beginning of 2008.

The International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed their concern about the number of attacks on foreign ships in the region.

This increasing incidence of piracy has added to an increase in shipping costs and hindered the delivery of food aid shipments to the struggling Horn of Africa.

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