hostages

The five Romanian sailors part of the crew of Italian ship Buccaneer, seized by Somali pirates on April 11, have been transferred to shore but are still held hostage, said the father of one of the sailors, cited by Italian daily La Stampa in its online edition Monday.

Four Romanian citizens are part of a group of 17 foreigners, mostly Israelis, held hostage by disgruntled Chinese laborers on isolated Caribbean island, said Israel's ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Amos Radian, cited by Ynetnews.com