The Kenyan police are holding a regional maritime official for questioning over claims regarding the ownership of a military hardware aboard the Ukrainian ship Faina which was hijacked off Somalia last week.

Sources within the police force said on Thursday Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa Coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), was arrested late Wednesday in Mombasa and is being questioned over claims he made to the media that the seized cargo, which includes 33 T-72 Soviet-designed battle tanks, grenade launchers, antiaircraft guns and piles of ammunition, was headed to South Sudan and not Kenya.

"We are holding him at the central police station over claims he has been making to the media because we want him to share with us what he knows of these pirates and other issues surrounding the Ukrainian ship," a senior police officer told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

Speaking to Xinhua before his arrest on Wednesday, Mwangura said the pirates who have stepped up their activity along the coastal waters of the Somali coast, are now demanding 5 million US dollars for the release of the vessel.

"The pirates have lowered their demand to 5 million dollars from 20 million dollars. Telephone contacts have already started between the ship owners and the pirates," said Mwangura whose organization tracks pirate attacks and communicates with the families of crew members.

"My advice is that this needs to be done quickly. The longer that ship stays in Somalia, the more people are going to get involved and the greedier they are going to get," he said.

Police said Mwangura was likely to be charged in court on Thursday with making an alarming statement, a crime under the country's criminal procedure code.

The Faina is currently moored off Somalia's coast close to the town of Hoboyo. There have been conflicting reports of where the Faina and its cargo are destined.

Kenya has insisted that the shipment was destined for its military. But Mwangura, including a U.S. navy spokesman, said it was bound for the autonomous government of south Sudan, in possible contravention of a peace accord.

A Russian warship is reported heading toward the coast of Somalia and expected to arrive within days.

The Russian Novosti news agency quoted a navy officer as saying that the warship heading for the area is carrying marines and special forces commandoes on board

The latest hijacking is part of a surge of daring maritime attacks off the coast of Somalia, a war-torn country that has been without a functioning government since 1991.

The waters off its coast are considered to be some of the world's most dangerous as pirates have hijacked nearly 30 ships this year and attacked many more.

Most attacks have been in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and north Somalia, a major route leading to the Suez canal linking Europe and Asia.

Authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland have said hey are powerless to confront the pirates, who regularly hold ships for ransom at the port of Eyl.

There were reports that at least 100 pirates from the Somalia Youth Coast Guard are in control of the Faina, which is sailing under a Belize flag.

Pirates have seized dozens of ships near Somalia's coast in recent months.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2008)