Suspected Indonesian pirates hijacked a Malaysian-registered tanker Tuesday, held the crew hostage for nearly 12 hours and threatened to blow the vessel up, before surrendering to police and naval forces who laid siege on the ship, officials said. Ten pirates armed with rifles attacked the vessel before dawn off Malaysia's northern Langkawi island in the Malacca Strait, said marine police commander Abdul Rahman Ahmad. One of the tanker's 19 crew members escaped on a smaller boat and alerted mainland authorities, Abdul Rahman said. The tanker was carrying diesel and oil products from Port Klang in western Malaysia to Myanmar. The standoff ended six hours after police chased down and surrounded the ship, he was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
