Indonesia not to negotiate with Somali pirates over crew hostage

JAKARTA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government would not negotiate with the Somali pirates over the detaining of 11 Indonesians working as crews at a Malaysian tug boat, Indonesian foreign ministry said here Friday.

The 11 crews were taken hostage by Somali pirates when they sailed at Yemen waters on Dec. 16 and brought to the Somali waters, spokesman of the ministry Teuku Faizahsyah said.

The Indonesian government was now coordinating with the owner of the Malaysian ship, Mas Indra Shippping Malaysian Bhd, based on Port Klang Malaysia, to rescue the crews, Faizahsyah added.

"The Indonesian government would not negotiate with the Somali pirates, because the negotiation with those conducting a wrong thing would only open a possibility on the repetition of such act in the future," he told Xinhua.

"Such stand has been exercised by many governments in the world," Faizahsyah said.

So far, the crisis center, set up by the ministry to task on this matter, has been able to identify all the crews, he said.

According to Tempo interactive online, all the 11 crews are still alive.