The Saudi owners of the Sirius Star are in negotiations with Somali pirates who have demanded a ransom for the super-tanker laden with 100 million dollars of oil they hijacked at the weekend.

As international anger continued to mount Wednesday over a situation described by the International Maritime Bureau as `out of control`, an Indian naval vessel sank a Somali pirate ship.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned on Wednesday a surge of piracy off Somalia`s coast and backed international efforts to combat it.

Ban `expresses his concern` at the pirates` attacks in recent days and `reiterates his condemnation of all acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea wherever they occur,` said the UN chief`s spokesperson in a statement.

The Pentagon said Wednesday a military approach was not the answer to a surge of piracy off the Horn of Africa and suggested that shipping companies do more on their own to protect their vessels.

`You could have all the navies in the world having all their ships out there, you know, it`s not going to ever solve this problem,` said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

An Indian warship destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.

US President George W. Bush has kept up to date on the fate of a Saudi super-tanker hijacked by pirates off the east African coast and views the crew`s safety as critical, the White House said Wednesday.

Authorities in Somalia`s breakaway region of Puntland on Wednesday allowed a radio station to resume broadcasting, three days after it was yanked off the air, a watchdog said Wednesday.

The European Union`s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia -- its first-ever naval mission -- will begin on December 8, France`s defence minister said Wednesday.

Five or six warships will begin patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden from that date, said Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency.

The Saudi owners of the super-tanker Sirius Star were in negotiations Wednesday with the pirates who seized the vessel off the east African coast at the weekend, the Saudi foreign minister said in Rome.

An Indian warship destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.

The European Union`s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia -- its first-ever naval mission -- will begin on December 8, France`s defence minister said Wednesday.

Five or six ships will begin patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden from that date, Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency, told reporters.