Nairobi - Somali pirates have demanded a ransom for a Saudi supertanker carrying around 100 million dollars worth of crude oil amid reports Wednesday that another ship had been seized and that an Indian warship had destroyed a pirate vessel.

"Negotiators are on the ship and on land," Farah Abd Jameh, who claimed to be a member of the group that seized the Sirius Star, said in a tape sent to Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera. "Once they agree on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker."

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.

Nairobi/Goma  - A rebel group that has been battling government forces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo said Tuesday it would withdraw from two fronts to show its commitment to peace.

Rebel Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) has routed the Congolese army and seized control of territory in the eastern North Kivu province in recent weeks.

The CNDP said in a statement on its website it had decided to "immediately and unilaterally" withdraw its troops a distance of 40 kilometres on the Kanyabayonga-Nyanzale and Kabasha-Kiwanja fronts in North Kivu.

Nairobi - Somali pirates achieved a new milestone in their seemingly unstoppable rise this weekend when they seized a Saudi Arabian supertanker laden with two million barrels of oil worth almost 100 million dollars.

It seems that every month there is a new first for the pirates, who have dramatically increased the frequency of their attacks this year.

But what is most concerning about the latest attack is that it seems to point to the pirates changing tactics in response to an increased presence of international warships in the region.

Athens/Nairobi - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday called the hijacking of a Saudi oil tanker by Somali pirates an "outrageous act."

In the first Saudi Arabian public statement about the hijacking, Prince Saud al-Faisal said there is a need to fight piracy.

"Piracy, like terrorism is a disease which is against everybody, and everybody must address it together," he said in Athens following talks with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyianni.

Nairobi/Goma - Congolese President Joseph Kabila has sacked his military chief of staff in the wake of rebel gains in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

State television late Monday night said that General Didier Etumba Longomba, the navy chief, would take over from General Dieudonne Kayembe.

Rebel Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) has routed the Congolese army in recent weeks and seized control of territory in the eastern North Kivu province.