By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Philippines said on Tuesday that nine Filipino seamen will return home from Oman after being held hostage by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
The Filipinos were taken hostage from aboard the MV Eternity C, which was attacked on July 7 this year.
The seamen "will be released and will be transferred from Sana'a, Yemen, to Muscat, Oman," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro "personally discussed the plight of the Filipinos with her Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Sayed Badr bin Hamad El-Busaidi, during a bilateral meeting in July, and again raised the matter during a phone call in November," the ministry said.
Filipino authorities will make arrangements for the "safe and immediate return of the Filipinos to the Philippines," and expressed "sincerest appreciation to the Sultanate of Oman."