SEVEN SOMALI PIRATES ARRIVE IN MALAYSIA

PORT KLANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Seven Somalian pirates, who were detained by the Malaysian Armed Forces in the Gulf of Aden on Jan 20, arrived here Monday morning.

They were escorted by a dozen police vehicles from Port Klang's Liquid Bulk Terminal at 9.15am to the marine police base here and then to the Pandamaran marine police station.

Travelling in a police bus, the detainees were then taken to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital for a medical check-up.

Police Headquarters (Bukit Aman) CID deputy director Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that police would proceed with their investigations and gather as much evidence as possible.

"Papers will be submitted to the Attorney-General the soonest possible for his perusal, whether to charge or otherwise," he said in a text message.

In the incident, Malaysian naval commandos rescued the ship MT Bunga Laurel from the clutches of Somali pirates armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols about 333 nautical miles (555km) east of Oman.

The rescue mission, codenamed "Operasi Fajar", was carried out together with the Royal Malaysian Navy's auxiliary ship, Bunga Mas 5.

The commandos overpowered the pirates after a gun battle that left three of the pirates injured.

None of the commandoes were injured in the operations.