Pirates free 30 yacht crew off Somalia

Pirates have freed 30 hostages held aboard a French tourist yacht off Somalia's coast following a peaceful operation that involved the French military, French officials said on Friday.

The French government would not immediately say whether any pirates were captured nor whether the vessel had been retaken. But a Philippines government official, commenting because some of the freed crew were Filipino, said all the hostages were safe and the yacht had been "turned over safe."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a statement announcing the release, thanked the French army and other agencies "that allowed a quick end" to the hostage-taking.