Nairobi/Bosasso - Somali pirates accused of hijacking a United Arab Emirates ship last week were sentenced to life by a regional court, reports said Monday.

Seven pirates were handed down the jail term in Bosasso, in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, after they were convicted for "taking people hostage with the aim of obtaining a ransom," a local official told the BBC.

Security officials in Puntland wrested the al-Khaleej from the pirates' hands on April 22.

Somali Pirates released 26 crew members from a Spanish ship at the weekend, and gunmen who seized a French-owned luxury yacht were in French custody.

Somalia's pirate-infested waters are some of the world's most dangerous, with at least 27 hijackings occurring in 2007.

The pirates usually get off without punishment once the ship's owner pays a ransom, but some recent attacks have shown less tolerance for impunity.

Somalia has not had effective central rule since the fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, which plunged the Horn of Africa country into war and anarchy. (dpa)