Families of Spanish sailors held hostage off Somalia have appealed to their government to negotiate with the pirates, who have threatened to kill three crew members.
The Week in Africa looks at why there is a chance the Presidential election in Ivory Coast may be postponed once again, examines the humanitarian disaster in Mogadishu, and investigates diamond trafficking in Namibia.
Somali pirates holding a British couple kidnapped from their yacht are asking for a ransom of seven million dollars (4.7 million euros) to set them free, Britain's Foreign Office has said.
A European counter-piracy force have arrested seven suspected pirates after they opened fire on a French fishing vessel 650 km east of the Somalian coast. The attackers are being detained on board a German warship.
A fierce battle in Mogadishu on Thursday killed at least 21 civilians and wounded dozens after insurgents fired on the Somali president's plane, prompting an artillery response from peacekeepers.
Somalia's junior defence minister, Youssuf Mohamed Siad, has been released after being mistakenly arrested by Ugandan security forces overnight. The Somali government described the powerful Mogadishu warlord's arrest as a "humiliation".
A French naval vessel, acting as a command ship for all French forces in the Indian Ocean, has repelled a night assault by Somali pirates and captured several of the attackers after a chase on the high seas, the military said.
Somali Defence Minister Youssuf Mohamed Siad (pictured) was detained by Ugandan security agents during a visit to Kampala. Ugandan officials said the minister was not kidnapped and is safe, a claim confirmed by Mogadishu.
Hundreds of families have fled the southern city of Kismayo amid heavy clashes after rival Islamist factions al Shabaab and Hezb al-Islam ended their uneasy alliance and battled for control of the strategic port city.
