Riyadh/Nairobi - The owners of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia are negotiating a possible ransom, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday, according to the Duabai-based al-Arabiya channel.

The Sirius Star, a supertanker owned by the Saudi Arabian firm Vela International that was carrying some 100 million-dollars-worth of crude oil was hijacked Saturday 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

Riyadh/Nairobi - The owners of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia are negotiating a possible ransom, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday, according to the Dubai-based al-Arabiya channel.

The Sirius Star, a supertanker owned by the Saudi Arabian firm Vela International that was carrying some 100 million-dollars-worth of crude oil was hijacked Saturday 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

Amid reports that the pirates had demanded a ransom, the ship was anchored Tuesday near the Somali port of Harardhere.

Riyadh  - British Prime

Riyadh - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday expressed appreciation for European Union efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the growing controversy over Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology.

He said the best way to solve the region's nuclear question is complete disarmament of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. The disarmament would have to include Israel, he said.

Riyadh  - Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz confirmed Tuesday that the trial of 991 terrorist suspects is underway.

The number is significantly higher than the 70 defendants reported in Saudi media Monday. Legal proceedings are believed to have started on Monday.

The minister said the defendants were responsible for more than 30 attacks in the conservative Muslim kingdom since May 2003, the Saudi News agency reported.

Riyadh, Oct. 21:Saudi Arabian authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants on charges that they participated in terrorist attacks carried out in the kingdom over the last five years.

News agency reports quoted the country''s Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, as saying on Tuesday that over the past few years, the kingdom has been "the target of an organized terrorist campaign linked to networks of strife and sedition overseas."

The Saudi Press Agency further quoted Prince Nayef as saying: "This campaign targeted the way of life, economy and principles of Saudi society and sought to create chaos,'''' he added. ''''It has direct links to a deviant group that adopts the (mind-set) of al-Qaida.''''