One of the most notorious Somali pirate leaders has been arrested in Belgium after police lured him there with the promise of an advisory role in a film about his life of crime, prosecutors said last night.

Mohammed Abdi Hassan, who is known by the nickname Afweyne, or Big Mouth, was detained along with an alleged accomplice, identified as Tiiceey, after they arrived at Brussels airport on Saturday from Nairobi, said Johan Delmulle, a federal prosecutor.

The news coincided with the opening in the French city of Rennes yesterday of the trial of three Somalis charged with hijacking a French yacht in 2009. The vessel’s skipper was shot dead during a rescue operation by French special forces.

Abdi Hassan was wanted for organising a string