The Spanish tuna fishing vessel hijacked over the weekend is still held by Somali pirates and no ransom demand had been made as yet, the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Wednesday.

Somalia said on Tuesday it had sent forces to free the boat, carrying 26 crew, after troops stormed another hijacked ship, freed its crew and arrested seven pirates.

First we have to hear what they are asking for, what they want, Moratinos said on television in Spain.

Rise in hijackings for ransom in the waters of the coast of lawless Somalia have made it one of the world's most dangerous shipping zones.

Earlier this month Somali pirates seized a French luxury yacht and held 30 people aboard hostage for a week. They were freed in apparent exchange for a ransom payment. French troops captured six of the pirates on April 11 on land in Somalia.

France's UN envoy commented that France and the US, with the help of Britain, are in the process of drafting a UN Security Council resolution authorizing countries to fight piracy off Somalia and elsewhere, France's UN envoy said on Tuesday.

Moratinos said Spain would support the resolution and would call a meeting between various countries involved to work out a way of improving security in the region.

Somalia