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Freed seamen back in Italy. A positive outcome to a long operation, says Terzi

The three Italian seamen kidnapped in Nigeria on 23 December 2012 and freed during the night of Tuesday 8 January are back home safe and sound. The kidnapping followed an attack on the Asso21 cargo-boat owned by Augusta Offshore.Emiliano Astarita, and the two officers, Salvatore Mastellone and Giuseppe D’Alessio, who arrived in Rome on Wednesday evening, are in good health.


“We’ve lost weight but everything’s fine”, Astarita told his father, Franco, on the phone immediately after his release. “Towards the end we were afraid we wouldn’t make it. It was a bad experience”, said Giuseppe D’Alessio on his return to Italy. “The worst part was just before we were released, because we didn’t know what was happening. They were preparing with their own rituals”. Emiliano Astarita, the captain, echoed his words: “It was hard, but now we’re back and we can’t wait to see our families again. The kidnappers would play around with their guns, shooting into the sea. Towards the end they seemed agitated. Yes, we were frightened”, he added.


Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who announced the release of the seamen, explained that “the situation was extremely worrying but thanks to the techniques we have honed over time, this long operation ended successfully with the return of our fellow nationals”. The Minister clarified that “No ransom was paid: the government’s policy is to negotiate”. He also thanked the Nigerian authorities for their partin obtaining a positive outcome to the case.


The three seamen will now be interviewed at police headquarters in Rome, where a dossier on the kidnapping has been opened, after which they will return home.


The kidnapping


A group of 7 armed men attacked the cargo boat on 23 December as it headed for Port Harcourt. In nearly all other attacks on shipping in that region, the vessels are released only on payment of a large ransom. In this case, however, the attackers did not seize the ship itself but kidnapped four crew members (the three Italians and a Ukrainian).


The Farnesina took action immediately, explained Terzi. “The Ministry followed techniques and procedures that we’ve honed over the years, most notably in the last few months”. A claim that is borne out by the facts: in just over a year, 30 Italian nationals kidnapped abroad have been brought home to their families.


Two Italians still held by kidnappers


Two Italian nationalsare still in the hands of their kidnappers. Mario Belluomo, a 63-year-old engineer from Catania, was kidnapped in Syria on 17 December, somewhere between Homs and Tartus. And aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto (38, from Palermo) has been in the hands of a Pakistani Taliban group for nearly a year. “We’re following both cases closely”, said Terzi. He announced that “the next few days could bring positive developments on Belluomo”.


Prime Minister Mario Monti welcomed the release of the three seamen and gave an assurance that the government will “make every effort” to obtain the release of Belluomo and Lo Porto.

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