Somali pirates let go the tanker they "caught"

Fox News and AP report Somali pirates who seized oil tanker release it without conditions"

Pirates who seized a Comoros-flagged oil tanker released the ship Thursday without conditions, according to a Somali official.

Security official Ahmed Mohamed told The Associated Press the pirates have disembarked the ship, which is now heading to Bossaso port, the region's commercial hub.

Mohamed said the release occurred after negotiations by local elders and local officials with the pirates, who seized the tanker on Monday and held eight Sri Lankan crew members hostage.

Apparently there might also have been some gun play, as set out here:

A Somali official says pirates who seized an oil tanker have opened fire on naval troops from the semiautonomous state of Puntland, sparking clashes between the two sides.

Ali Shire Mohamud, the commissioner of Alula district where the ship is being held, says clashes started after naval forces tried to stop a boat carrying reinforcement pirates to the ship.

Seems to me that the pirates may have recognized that if the "athorities" knew where pirate reinforcements were, that this situation could have gotten into one of dual sets of hostages, one group of innocent sailors and the other of pirates.

I would think the "elders" might have pointed that out.