The UN World Food Program (WFP) Wednesday confirmed that the Somali pirates who hijacked its chartered ship three months ago has returned to their base off central Somalia along with the ship and its 10-man crew and cargo of food aid.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the UN agency said that residents of the coastal town of Haradhere reported that the Kenyan-owned MV Semlow with the hijackers aboard had sailed back to a position at sea some 50 km off Haradhere from the port of El Maan just north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

WFP strongly condemned the reneging on the agreement to release the Semlow, its crew and cargo, and is placing advertisements today in Somali newspapers warning: "WFP food is not for sale" -- in case the hijackers try to sell the 850 metric tons of rice aboard the ship donated by Japan and Germany, the statement said.

The notice warns that WFP reserves its rights under international law against anyone buying or selling any of the humanitarian relief food.

"WFP demands the unconditional release of the vessel, its crew and its cargo. The crew members have suffered long enough and the humanitarian cargo has unlawfully been denied to the people who need it," said the advertisement.

"WFP calls upon community leaders, politicians and members of civil society in Harardhere and Adado, where most of the pirates come from, to intervene to end this ordeal peacefully, and no longer to stand passively by," it added.

Residents say the Semlow is anchored close to another vessel, which they believe was hijacked last week near El Maan by the same group of gunmen who seized the Semlow en route to northern Somalia on June 27.

The second ship is apparently loaded with cement from Egypt.

"I'm deeply worried for the crew and their families who have been waiting more than 90 days for this ordeal to be over," WFP Executive Director James Morris was quoted as saying.

The WFP-chartered vessel had anchored at the port of El Maan on September 19. After negotiations with representatives of the Somali transitional government and the El Maan Port Authority, an agreement to end the crisis was announced last week on Tuesday evening.

The following day, however, the hijackers issued fresh ransom demands and the ship left El Maan last Thursday.

Gunmen seized the St Vincent and Grenadines-registered Semlow off Harardhere, some 300 km northeast of Mogadishu, while it was carrying rice donated by Germany and Japan to assist 28,000 Somalis in the Puntland region whose lives were devastated by last December's tsunami.

The WFP hijacking was the sixth reported piracy incident in Somali waters since March.

The International Maritime Board has warned of an alarming increase in piracy in Somali waters and has urged ships to avoid the area.

Source: Xinhua