MOGADISHU, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two German couples held hostage in the northeastern semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland since late June have been released overnight, reports from the region said Saturday.

    Sources in Puntland told Xinhua that the kidnapers released the hostages following accepting 1 million U.S. dollars of the 2 million dollars they initially demanded.

Two German tourists, who were named by German news magazine Der Spiegel as Juergen K. (L) and Sabine M., held hostage by pirates, sit during a news conference after their release in Bosasso in northern Somalia's breakaway Puntland region Aug. 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The two elderly couple were kidnapped after Somali pirates waylaid their yacht in the red sea and took them to mountainous areas in the region where pirates kept them till their release.

    Officials in Puntland refused the payment of ransoms to pirates and hostage takers, saying ransom money fuels further abductions as it used to buy better arms and speed boats and vehicles.

    The German couples will fly to Djibouti Saturday where their son is, who reportedly involved in the negations to release his parents. However four Asian nationals, from Indonesian and Malaysia, are reportedly still being held hostage in the town of Eyl in Puntland by other kidnapers who abducted them five months ago.

    A fifth hostage has died shortly following the Asians' abduction. The gender of the hostage and the circumstance of the death are still unclear.

    The coastal town of Eyl has been a base for Somali pirates and hostage takers.

    The release of the German hostages came days after two Italian aid workers abducted in south Somalia were released. Unspecified amount of ransom have been reportedly paid to secure the release of the Italian hostages.

    They worked for an Italian non-governmental organization known as Cooperazione Italiana Nord Sud (CINS), or the North-South Italian Cooperation, which operates in some districts in Lower Shabelle region 100 km south of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

    Piracy and hostage taking is rife in the coastal semi-autonomous region of Puntland and in south and central Somalia where cargo ships are attacked and the crew and other passengers are kidnapped for ransom.

    Somali gunmen usually kidnap foreigners particularly aid workers for ransom and do not often harm their hostages in expectation of hefty ransom payouts.