EIGHT Russians and 20 Kenyans held hostage aboard two fishing boats in Somalia have been ordered to pay to secure their release, the Russian foreign ministry said. The fishing vessels, Gorizont-1 and Gorizont-2, were seized by armed men in the port of Kismayo, in southern Somalia, in circumstances that remain unclear. Somali fishermen employed by the ships’ crews were said to be demanding a large sum of money in payment for their services. – AFP
EGYPT CALLS FOR LIFE IN JAIL FOR SPY
THE prosecution of Egypt’s top state security court has called for the maximum sentence of jail with forced labour for life for an Egyptian accused of spying for Israel. The prosecution told the court that Sherif Fawzi al-Filali, 34 admitted under interrogation that he had been commissioned to “gather information on Egyptian weaponry, the irrigation project at Tochka, in the south of the country, and on tourism in Egypt.” Israel has denied any involvement in the affair. – AFP