By Mike Nizza
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
 A pirate was taken into custody on Tuesday in the Somali port town of Bosasso. (Photo: Abdiqani Hassan/Reuters) |
In France, where six others are held, a lighter sentence can be expected. Capital punishment was abolished there in 1981, and authorities have refused to turn over suspects without guarantees that they would not be executed.
No one was killed in either attack, but a Somali official said that the seven pirates in custody “crossed the line” by attacking a ship so close to a key port.
One of the 16 members of the Pakistani crew on that ship gave a first hand account of the hijacking and rescue in an interview today with Reuters. It all started when they let three fisherman begging for water on board, Alia
“We let in three of them. Suddenly four others, who were armed, boarded the ship. They then ordered the captain to change course and took us between Mukalah (in Yemen) and Dubai. They held us there at sea all night,” he said in Urdu.
[…]When the pirates came on board, the Pakistani crew scattered and tried to hide in different parts of the cargo ship that had been en route from Dubai to Puntland. They were all found by the pirates, who promised not to hurt them.
“In the morning many troops on two speedboats surrounded our ship. Then the shootout started. It was really frightening.
“The pirates surrendered after three of them were wounded. I can’t believe we are free. It was a nightmare,” he said, smiling.
Source: NY Times, April 23, 2008