Militiamen in north-eastern Somalia have released two foreign ships and their crews, which they had captured a month ago.

The ships -- a Bulgarian freighter and a Syrian vessel towing it -- were freed following payment of a one-hundred- and-ten-thousand-dollar fine.

The militiamen captured the ships after they allegedly refused to leave Somali waters.

Elders and businesmen from the northeastern town of Bossasso helped to negotiate the settlement.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service