Ship with 11 Indians hijacked

MUMBAI: Twenty-six crew members, including 11 Indians, have been held captive by suspected Somali pirates after the hijacking of a Liberian-flagged crude tanker off the Omani coast, the Directorate General Shipping said on Saturday. 

The pirates boarded MT Smyrni while it was sailing in the Arabian Sea on Thursday afternoon, a DGS statement issued late this evening said. The DGS has asked the ship's manager and recruiting agent in Mumbai -Dynacom Tankers Management - to obtain information on the condition of the Indian crew. The vessel, loaded with 135,000 tonnes of crude and owned by a Greek company, is headed towards the Somalian coast, it said. The abducted Indians include the master of the vessel, which also had 14 Filipinos and a Romanian. 

According to a BBC report from London, the hijacking is thought to have happened about 630 km off the Omani coast.

Cameron auctions 'most valuable' Sachin Tendulkar's bat

Sachin Tendulkar's bat fetched 3,400 pounds (approx Rs 3 lakh) at an auction at the Lord's. (AFP Photo)

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron, who considered a bat signed by Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as one of his 'most valuable possessions', has donated it to raise money for a cricket stadium in Rwanda.

The bat fetched 3,400 pounds (approx Rs 3 lakh) at an auction at the Lord's to raise funds for the stadium project, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Some days ago, at an event of the Conservative Friends of India, Cameron had spoken how he cherished the bat and Tendulkar's signature during his visit to India in 2010.

He told the Indian audience that he was horrified when he saw his wife Samantha play French cricket with the same bat at the Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence, adding: "I said, 'No, darling, put it down, this is probably the most valuable possession I have.'"

The auction, held in the Long Room at Lord's, was to commemorate the life of Christopher Shale, Cameron's constituency chairman, who was found dead at the Glastonbury festival last summer.

Shale's son, Edo, said the event raised almost 130,000 pounds for the project.

He told the daily: "We are all delighted and a little exhausted. These funds are the springboard this charity needs to take us into the construction phase of the cricket stadium."

Insufficient evidence to arrest Hafiz Saeed: Gilani

Pakistani Prime Minister said: "If you arrest him, that means he will be released by the courts. For the courts you need more evidence."

LONDON: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said there is insufficient evidence to arrest Mumbai terror attackmastermind Hafiz Saeed, a media report said.

"If you arrest him, that means he will be released by the courts. For the courts you need more evidence," telegraph.co.uk quoted Gilani as saying.

"You know the judiciary is completely independent in Pakistan."

Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taibamilitant group, is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including foreigners, were killed by 10 terrorists from Pakistan.

The US last month announced an award of up to $10 million for information leading to arrest and conviction of Saeed and $2 million for Hafiz Adbul Rahman Makki, under the Rewards for Justice programme, for information on the two terrorists.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her three-day trip to India earlier this month, said she had authorised the award for Hafiz Saeed who was responsible for the attack in Mumbai.

"It may take longer than we like but we will stand with you and trying to make that happen," she said May 7 in Kolkata.