Reactions of the families of the fishermen that were kidnapped in Somalia on April 9 near the coast of Somalia on board the fishing boats ‘Samara' and ‘Momtaz 1', which were carrying 33 fishermen from Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh and Dakahlia, have escalated due to the pirates insisting on a ransom of 5 million dollars to release the fishermen. Hassan Khalil, the owner of ‘Momtaz 1' said he got a call from his son yesterday and from another fisherman who was screaming and sobbing. He told him: “Help us! The pirates beat us and humiliate us all day. They just give us one glass of water in the morning and another in the evening. They only give us one plate of noodles less than 100 grams. Our psychological and health conditions have deteriorated. It's been 80 days now and we still don't know what will happen to us.” Khalil called on the Foreign Ministry officials and the Egyptian ambassador in Somalia to issue an official statement about the status of the kidnapped fishermen, the pirates and their health condition. He said he has not slept since yesterday from the many calls by the families of the fishermen in Kafr El-Sheikh, Dakahlia and Ezbet El-Borg, who asked him to bring back their sons. He said: “All we have is 50,000 pounds only that we managed to collect after we sold all our possessions,” calling on President Mubarak to intervene personally, rescue those kidnapped fishermen and release them, now that everyone is starting to lose hope.
