"The suspects were apprehended by a Russian navy ship and turned over to our coastguards in the His district of Sanag region late Saturday," local coastguard commander Mohamed Yusuf Otor told reporters.

Otor said the Russians captured the alleged pirates around two weeks ago in the Gulf of Aden.

"Once the investigation is over they will be brought to court where they will be tried," local police official Abdulahi Rage told AFP by phone from Somaliland's main port of Berbera.

Russia has been taking part in international anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean since September 2008.

earlier related report
French navy turns over pirate suspects to Puntland
Mogadiscio (AFP) March 13, 2010 - The French navy operating off Somalia turned over 24 suspected Somali pirates on Saturday to the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, where they will stand trial, police officials said.

The suspects were arrested, and their equipment seized, in recent days during operations aimed at thwarting attempts to hijack ships off the Horn of Africa, Puntland police colonel Yusuf Abdurahman told AFP by telephone.

"The French forces also brought a video showing the operation when the suspects were arrested," he said from Bossaso city. "We already see that the guys had some sort of pirate behaviour, except two of them."

Mohamed Said Jaqanaf, Puntland's deputy police chief, said the suspects -- who are currently in custody -- would be "tried here locally after hearing the charges against them".

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