Pirates free hostages, get ransom

MOGADISHU, Somalia – As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members.

Spain’s prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers – one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise.

“The government did what it had to do,” Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. “The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us.”

Somali pirates attacked two more ships on Monday and still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew, including a British couple who were taken from their 38-foot sailboat last month.