Sana'a, Yemen/Paris - The French government has deployed a unit of its elite GIGN anti-terrorism and hostage rescue force to Djibouti to prepare an assault if negotiations with Somali pirates holding the crew of a luxury yacht bring no results, French media reported Monday.

Late Sunday, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview that France had made contact with the pirates holding 22 French nationals and 10 Ukrainians off the coast of Somalia.

The 32 hostages were crew members of the luxury yacht, the Ponant, which was sailing from Somalia to the southern Yemeni port of Aden when armed pirates boarded it and took the entire crew hostage on Friday.

"We've made contact and the matter could last a long time," Kouchner told France Inter radio. "Our contact needs to be fruitful and we have to do everything to avoid bloodshed."

Kouchner did not rule out the payment of a ransom to secure the release of the crew.

Maryse Gilbert, the mother of one of the hostages, told Europe 1 radio that she understood that Kouchner did not want to be specific about France's intentions.

"But as a mother I have problems supporting this," she said. "If we have to pay a ransom, then let's do it - and immediately."

Piracy off the Somali coast - which lies at the mouth of the Red Sea - has been rife since the country slid into chaos after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by warlords in 1991.

Frequent pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden, a major trade route between Asia and Europe, has made those waters the world's most dangerous for pirate activities.

The International Maritime Bureau has advised vessels that are not making scheduled calls to ports in Somalia to keep a distance of 200 nautical miles away from the Somali coast. (dpa)