Madrid  - A Spanish judge was Tuesday questioning a suspected Somali pirate after he and his accomplice were flown to Spain from East Africa on Monday, radio reports said.

Abdou Willy arrived at the National Court to be questioned by judge Baltasar Garzon, who had ordered him and Raagegeesey to be brought to Spain and remanded in custody, according to judicial sources.

The two belong to a group of 13 pirates who have been holding the Spanish fishing vessel Alakrana for 11 days.

The two were captured by a Spanish navy vessel participating in the European Union's anti-piracy Operation Atalanta after they left the trawler on board a skiff two days after the hijacking.

A French vessel took the two to a French military base in Djibouti, where a Spanish air force plane picked them up.

Raagegeesey was taken to a Madrid hospital where Garzon was due to interrogate him.

The suspect had been shot at and injured by Spanish marines as they were capturing him. The Spanish government says the soldiers were responding to a threatening gesture made by the Somali, who sustained a slight injury.

The arrest of the two pirates was expected to complicate the ongoing negotiations between the pirates and the owner of the Alakrana, who is being assisted by the Spanish ambassador to Kenya and experts from the secret service CNI.

The pirates have said they will not release the 36 crew members of the Alakrana before their companions are released.

Another Spanish fishing vessel, MS Playa de Bakio, was released in April 2008 after being held by pirates for a week. The CNI paid a ransom of 1.2 million dollars, which is being reimbursed by the company owning the vessel, the daily El Pais reported.

This time, the pirates were expected to demand a higher ransom, given that the Alakrana is a newer vessel with a bigger crew than the Playa de Bakio.

Environment Minister Elena Espinosa, however, said the government did not intend to pay a ransom for the Alakrana.

The crew of the Alakrana includes 16 Spaniards, eight Indonesians as well as Malaysian, Senegalese, Ghanaean, Ivory Coast and Seychelles nationals. The trawler is stationed off the Somali port of Haradhere.(dpa)