Nairobi  - The United Nations' Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah Friday called for the release of all hostages being held in Somali as a show of good faith during a Muslim holiday.

"On the eve of Eid al-Adha, a period of forgiveness, I appeal to all Somalis to help to ensure that those hostages being held, both Somalis and foreigners, are allowed to enjoy their freedom and to return home safe and sound," Ould-Abdallah said in statement.

Journalists and foreign aid workers have increasingly become targets for kidnap and murder this year, mainly in south and central Somalia where Islamist insurgents are waging a bloody conflict against the government.

Berlin - A German warship warded off a suspected piracy attack on a German cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden, a defence ministry spokesman confirmed Friday.

The naval frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern chased off two suspicious speed boats on November 28 with three bursts of fire from a machine-gun, the spokesman said, confirming reports from Thursday.

A spokesman for Transocean Tours in Bremen, operators of the cruise ship, said the 492 passengers and crew on board the MS Astor had not noticed the incident. The ship also had not asked for help.

The suspicious boats disappeared quickly into Yemen's territorial waters, the tour operator said.

Copenhagen - A Danish navy vessel has rescued seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the Royal Danish Navy said Friday.

Copenhagen - The Danish navy was involved over the weekend in an operation against pirates of the coast of Somalia, a Royal Danish Navy spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Jesper Lynge told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the Danish Task Group onboard the Danish navy vessel Absalon "led an operation" after reports that a civilian vessel was being threatened by pirates.

The Danish Task Group currently leads the Task Force 150.

Absalon, with a 100-strong crew and a 50-strong task force, has since early September been deployed in the waters off Somalia, Lynge said.

Nairobi/Addis Ababa  - Ethiopia is to pull its troops out of Somalia by the end of the year, increasing the likelihood that Islamist insurgents will completely overrun the weak central government.

Ethiopia has previously said it would pull out of its conflict- ridden neighbour but always promised to ensure it would not leave behind a security vacuum.

However, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said Friday that it would extract its several thousand soldiers unconditionally by the end of the year.

Ethiopian forces invaded in 2006 to help kick out the Islamic Courts' Union (ICU) - a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months.

The story has been removed after request from the Journalist body discussed in the news.

TopNews Media will provide updates on the situation in future reports.