Algeria: Kidnapped sailors families stage sit-in

Families of sailors held hostage on a ship kidnapped by Somali pirates Tuesday staged a sit-in out of the headoffice of International Bulk Carriers (IBC).

• The families asked for help from authorities and the Algerian foreign ministry to release the hostages who were kidnapped, five months ago.
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• They decided to continue the sit-in regularly until their sons are released.
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• Sailor Nafaa Hanouche’s two daughters, son and mother came to Algiers from the province of Tizi Ouzou (100km east of Algiers. Sailor Ait Ramdane Mohamed came from Tipaza. Sailor Kouhil’s two daughters, his wife and sister, sailor Achour’s wife, sailor Mounir Abderrahmane’s wife and her son, sailor Ait Kaci’s sister and other cousins of the kidnapped sailors came to Algiers to condemn authorities’ silence.
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• “We want our husbands to be released. We want them back safe and sound,” shouted a woman among the crowd. A protester interrupted her, saying “Algeria took into account pirates coming from the desert but it forgot about the sea pirates who put our sons in an unknown future.”
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• According to the protesters, all the sailors are desperate and tired. They asked their families to move because they realised that authorities will not do anything for them.
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• All the families have suffered from financial crisis since the sailors were kidnapped. IBC said it will stand by them.
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• The families were given 60 percent of the sailors’ salary for the month of January only.