UPDATE!! Captain Freed! 3 pirates killed, one captured!

[HughMoran]

US ship, choppers, shadow hostage captain, pirates



A crew member waves from the Maersk Alabama at the Mombasa port in Kenya, Sunday, April 12, 2009. Nineteen American sailors who escaped a pirate hijacking off the Horn of Africa reached safe harbor, exhilarated by freedom but mourning the absence of the captain they hailed for sacrificing his freedom to save them. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

By Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Katharine Houreld

Associated Press Writers / April 12, 2009

MOMBASA, Kenya—U.S. warships and helicopters stalked a lifeboat holding an American sea captain and his four Somali captors Sunday as a Somali official and others reported negotiations for his release have broken down.

The district commissioner of the central Jariban region said talks went on all day Saturday, with clan elders from his area talking by satellite telephone and through a translator with Americans, but collapsed late Saturday night.

"The negotiations between and American officials have broken down. The reason is American officials wanted to arrest the pirates in Puntland and elders refused the arrest of the pirates," said the commissioner, Abdi Aziz Aw Yusuf. He said he organized initial contacts between the elders and the Americans.

Two other Somalis, one involved in the negotiations and another in contact with the pirates, also said the talks collapsed because of the U.S. insistence that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.

Nineteen American sailors guarded by U.S. Navy Seals reached safe harbor in Kenya's northeast port of Mombasa on Saturday night, exhilarated by freedom but mourning the absence of Capt. Richard Phillips, who sacrificed himself as a hostage to save them.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2009/04/12/us_ship_reaches_kenya_minus_kidnapped_captain/



__________________________________________________________________


Perhaps those hoping for "blood on the water" will be sated soon...

:)

Looks like my prediction took less than an hour to be fulfilled :)

[flvegan]

1. Yeah, let the pirates walk free.

That sends a good message. Let's give them the money too, just for playing. I'm sure that won't give ANYone any ideas about trying this again.

[HughMoran]

2. No way should they go free

Why would you assume anybody would want them to go free?

[flvegan]

5. As the article pointed out

"The negotiations between and American officials have broken down. The reason is American officials wanted to arrest the pirates in Puntland and elders refused the arrest of the pirates," said the commissioner, Abdi Aziz Aw Yusuf. He said he organized initial contacts between the elders and the Americans.

Two other Somalis, one involved in the negotiations and another in contact with the pirates, also said the talks collapsed because of the U.S. insistence that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.



My "assumption" is that the elders want the pirates to not be arrested/punished.

[HughMoran]

7. I didn't know that US would kowtow to Somali "elders"

What am I missing - did we agree to their terms?

[flvegan]

8. Not that I know of.

My point was in regards to what the elders want, not what we would consider agreeing to.

[HughMoran]

9. I was wondering - I took it as if the US was being soft or something

Just a simple misunderstanding :)

[stillcool]

4. what they really need is some 'shock and awe'!

Somalia: Another CIA-Backed Coup Blows Up
by Mike Whitney
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/42/Somalia_Another_C...

Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia?
The United States has lost the ground war in Somalia, but that doesn't mean its geopolitical objectives have changed one iota. The US intends to stay in the region for years to come and use its naval power to control the critical shipping lanes from the Gulf of Aden. The growing strength of the Somali national resistance is a set-back, but it doesn't change the basic game-plan. The pirates are actually a blessing in disguise. They provide an excuse for the administration to beef up it's military presence and put down roots. Every crisis is an opportunity

http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/42/Somalia_Another_CIAbacked_coup_blows_up.html

[HughMoran]

13. The elders got their answer

:rofl:

[madmom]

3. My idea...let one or two of the navy seals ,who are most likely in the area,

go under the life boat and hook up to it and pull it out to open water, then wait them out. Get them away from land and their home base, surround them with our ships and wait them out. Just a thought....

[HughMoran]

6. Even better, just "hole" the boat and collect 'em up as they float on the water

There is no way they could keep a hostage during the chaos of a sinking ship.

[The Straight Story]

10. Well, he free and pirates dead now

:)

[HughMoran]

12. Wow - how's that for predictive posting

THat didn't take long!

[HughMoran]

11. BREAKING NEWS!! Vermont captain freed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BREAKING NEWS 1:32 PM

Vermont captain freed

CNN is reporting that the captain being held captive by Somali pirates for the last five days has been freed.