Apparently, this exchange -- between a BBC reporter and her 12-year-old daughter -- preceded the BBC finally establishing contact with Somali pirates over the weekend.

"Mummy, mummy, please can I phone the pirates for you?"

"No."

"Pleeeeez."

By this time, with rain battering my windscreen and cars jamming the road, I was at the end of my tether.

"OK", I said, tossing the phone into the back of the car.

"They are under P for pirates."

The connection was made, giggles were stifled, and the next day, the BBC was able to record interviews with "the boss pirate" and with the captain of the hijacked Saudi oil tanker.

No word on whether 12-year-old diplomacy was responsible for the deal that has reportedly been reached to release the tank-laden Ukrainian ship held elsewhere in the Gulf of Aden.