Tag: Somali Pirates (page 2)

Freed hostage Captain Richard Phillips was supposed to reunite with his crew today in Mombassa. They were scheduled to fly back to the U.S. together. The plan fell apart because Captain Phillips was on the U.S.S. Bainbridge which had to attend to yesterday's failed pirate attempt to take the Liberty Sun, another U.S. ship. While the pirates failed, they caused some damage by throwing rocket grenades at the ship.

France captured 11 pirates yesterday by preempting an attack on a Liberian ship and raiding the pirates' boat before they could launch their attack. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke yesterday about what's needed: Fewer expensive Navy ships. [More...]

How absurd is this? The Department of Justice is going to prosecute the captured Somali pirate in federal court in New York or Washington.

Can we think of any more ways to waste money? On Saturday, a judge in Somalia's State of Puntland handed down 20 year sentences to ten pirates captured in another hijacking last October. In September, other pirates were sentenced to 15 years. Swift and certain justice, Somali style.

The pirate will come here, be declared indigent so taxpayers will fund both his prosecution and the defense, and the case will take years to wind through the courts on jurisdictional issues alone.

Deterrence? What pirate isn't going to think 20 years in a U.S. prison is a cakewalk compared to the conditions in a prison in Somalia or Kenya?

Another case of retribution gone wild.

Hooray for the Captain! He jumped overboard and was rescued. Navy Seals shot and killed three of the pirates. The fourth was taken into custody.

Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

It's regrettable there was any loss of life but the Captain had to be freed.

Last night negotiations broke down between the Somali elders and U.S. negotiators for the release of hostage Captain Richard Phillips. The sticking point was whether the Somali pirates should be arrested and turned over to authorities for prosecution.

Today, the Somali elders are trying again.

Media reports said that Somali elders set off from the port of Eyl on Sunday in a fresh attempt to find a compromise that will secure Phillip's release.

[More...]

Apparently, the pirates have fuel after all, and are within 20 miles of reaching shore, with kidnapped Captain Phillips, who is still alive.

The New York Times reports negotiations have failed because the U.S. is insisting on arresting the pirates. As experts predicted last night, the pirates are willing to release Captain Phillips without the ransom if they don't get arrested.

The priority should be the safe return of Captain Phillips, not retribution. Prosecuting these particular pirates will not stop the next hijacking. Until the conditions in Somalia causing the piracy are addressed, the hijackings will continue.

The AP has a long and interesting article on the background of the Somali pirates. Not surprisingly, they come from the ranks of the young, poor and unemployed, looking for a way out of despair.

Hostages say they are generally well treated, with the pirates viewing them as common men caught in a wider game: the pursuit of million-dollar ransoms from owners. Some have described the pirates slaughtering and roasting goats on board to feed them, and passing around satellite phones to let them call loved ones back home.

As for a solution, this makes sense:

All analysts agree that the best way to quash piracy off Somalia is to achieve stability onshore, where civil conflict has raged for the last 18 years.

Update below from a Kenyan newspaper:

Things are not looking up in the Gulf of Aden. The Somali pirates have hijacked a U.S. owned tugboat with 16 crew members on board. The boat flies under an Italian flag.

The pirates are threatening "a disaster" if a rescue attempt is made for Captain Phillips.

"I'm afraid this matter is likely to create disaster because it is taking too long and we are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did," Abdi Garad said.

The warship USS Bainbridge is on scene and other American warships are en route. The pirates intend to move Capt Richard Phillips from the lifeboat to a bigger boat. Experts predict the pirates will cave in. [More...]

The USS Boxer is en route to scene of the pirate hostage standoff. Who knew we even had such a vessel?

The Boxer is the flag ship for a multination anti-piracy task force. The Boxer resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

I wonder how long it will take to get there?

Captain Richard Phillips tried to escape from the Somali pirates by jumping off the lifeboat, but was recaptured.

Negotiations are ongoing for his release. Ransom demands have been made. The lifeboat is out of fuel. There are no toilets on the lifeboat.

I think the pirates will release the Captain. I hope I'm right.

The FBI has sent hostage negotiators to try and obtain the release of the U.S. Maersk Alabama captain Richard Phillips being held hostage by Somali pirates. The pirates have sent reinforcements to their comrades.

Captain Phillips selflessly volunteered himself to protect the other crew members. Let's hope for his safe return. [More...]