Intelligence denies Pelizzari ransom

(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - Intelligence sources on Friday denied a report by British paper The Guardian that Italy paid a ransom to free an Italian national kidnapped by Somali pirates in 2010.
    "They are baseless speculations" that put current operations to free other Italian hostages around the world at risk, the sources said.
    The British daily cited a "leaked spy agency document" that says Italian intelligence agency AISE paid a ransom of $525,000 for the release of Bruno Pelizzari, an Italian, and South African Debbie Calitz, who were taken by Somali pirates in 2010 and released in 2012.
    "To conceal the payment of the ransom, AISE, SNSA (Somalia's national security agency) and the hostages agreed to inform the media and public that the release of the hostages was the result of a successful rescue operation by the Somali security forces," The Guardian wrote.
    Pelizzari and Calitz were sailing in the Indian Ocean when they were seized by the pirates, who originally demanded $10 million for their release. The government earlier this week denied paying a ransom for the release of Syria aid workers Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo, released in January after six months in captivity.
    Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi described reports of a payment as "groundless innuendo" and warned against such talk while other Italians were still being held hostage in crisis areas.
    Italy is currently seeking the release of Italian restaurateur and former missionary Rolando Del Torchio, who was abducted from his pizzeria and cafe' on the Philippines island of Mindanao on Wednesday.
    For now the radical Islamist group Abu Sayyaf is among the primary suspects and search operations extended as far as Sulu island, where it has a base.