The 22-member crew of a cargo vessel that was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden in August arrived in Pakistan on Thursday, days after they were freed, according to dpa. The four Pakistanis, 11 Egyptians, six Indians and one Sri Lankan, were released along with the vessel, MV Suez, after the pirates were paid a ransom of 2.1 million dollars on June 13. They were reunited with their families and greeted by a crowd at Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi. The ship's captain, Wasi Hassan, thanked the government and the media for their support. "When no body was there to help, media came forward and highlighted our issue," Hassan said. The Ansar Burney Trust, a charity run by a former Pakistani minister, played a key role in arranging the ransom. Pakistan deployed a warship, PNS Babur, to escort the crew after MV Suez developed technical problems. -- SPA
