Somalia pardons UK and American ransom couriers

Somalia has pardoned six foreigners convicted of illegally carrying millions of dollars into the country with the intention of paying pirate ransoms, a government spokesman and presidency officials said.
Somali authorities detained three Britons, an America and two Kenyans late last month, impounding their two aircraft and $3.6 million in cash. "Considering the humanitarian situation, the Somali President pardoned the six foreigners," government spokesman Abdirahman Osman Yarisow told Reuters on Sunday, adding that the ransom money the men were carrying would be kept.
The Somali government says it is illegal to pay ransoms to the armed pirate gangs stalking the strategic sea-lanes linking Europe and Asia, but the practice remains common. A Somali court convicted the six of illegally taking money into the country, aiding and abetting piracy and undermining the integrity of the Somali state.