Mohamed Sheikh Ali, who the controls district off of which the vessel has been held by armed pirates since late June, said the 10-man crew of the MV Semlow will be tried under laws intended to protect the coast from illegal fishing and dumping.

"The laws were already in place before the arrest of the ship," said Ali, who claims the title of district commissioner for area in central Somalia around Haradere, the home region of the gunmen.

"The district introduced them to protect Somalia's fishing zones and prevent the dumping of chemical waste there," he told AFP by phone from Haradere.

Ali gave no details of the law nor any explanation of why the crew -- who were transporting 850 tonnes of German- and Japanese-donated rice for the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute to Somali tsunami victims -- would be tried under it.

The Semlow, its crew of eight Kenyans, a Sri Lankan captain and Tanzanian engineer, and cargo were seized by the gunmen in pirate-infested Somali waters on June 27.

The hijackers have alternately demanded a ransom of 500,000 dollars (404,000 euros) and the food aid for the release of the ship and crew, demands that have been rejected outright by the WFP.

The agency has repeatedly demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the vessel, crew and cargo and has sought help in negotiating their freedom from community and clan elders and the Somali transitional government.

Earlier this month, the WFP said an agreement had been reached for their release under which the food would be offloaded at a port near Mogadishu for distribution in central Somalia but the pirates then rejected it.

Ali and the apparent leader of the hijackers, Mohamed Abdi Afweyne, both said the use of intermediaries was delaying the release of the ship and crew.

"They are wasting time by talking to people who have no power to release the ship," Ali said, referring to the WFP's efforts with the fledgling transitional government that asserts little control over most of the anarchic nation.

"The best method is to negotiate with the people of Haradere if they really want a solution," Ali said, in comments echoed by Afweyne who also spoke to AFP from Haradere.

"The owners of the ship and WFP seem to be less concerned about the crew than the cargo," Afweyne said, adding that the 10 seamen were being well treated and even allowed alcoholic beverages.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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