After long and tiring negotiations held by Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) chief Ahmed Chinoy for the past nine months with Somali pirates holding merchant vessel MV Albedo and her crew hostage, it has now been confirmed by Chinoy from Dubai that an amount of $2.85 million has been agreed upon to be paid as expenses incurred by the pirates for the sustenance of the crew and the maintenance of the vessel. “We shall now enter into the second phase of the ‘Save MV Albedo’ campaign, which requires your support – to raise the appeal for funds – so that we may bring home the sailors and end this 16-month-long nightmare that the families of the crew have been enduring,” said the CPLC chief in a message sent from Dubai. He said that it had been decided that the funds are to be paid by April 20. For this, Chinoy would launch a formal appeal and campaign to start fundraising from 4:00 pm on April 1 at the CPLC office, the Sindh Governor’s Secretariat.