Sunday, April 12, 2009
In an admission that will cast doubts over the decision to free the hostages by force, Defence Minister Herve Morin said he could not rule out the possibility that Florent Lemacon had been hit by a French commando's bullet.
"There will be a judicial inquiry," he told French radio. "One cannot exclude that during the exchange of fire between the pirates and commandos the shot was French."
Mr Morin spoke out as the piracy crisis on the Indian Ocean worsened, with more vessels attacked and no sign of an end to the stand-off between a US navy destroyer and a boatload of pirates holding hostage Richard Phillips, the American captain of a cargo ship.
The French navy also released footage of the hostage drama aboard the Tanit, the yacht on which Mr Lemacon was travelling with his wife, Chloe, three-year-old son and another French couple.
The images show the hostages sitting on the yacht surrounded by Kalashnikov-wielding pirates.
In one shot, a female hostage stared out to sea as a gunman pointed his assault rifle at her head.
Other footage showed the weekend's ill-fated rescue mission itself, with a boatful of French commandos speeding towards the yacht and clambering aboard.
French officials said three pirates were shot from afar by French snipers, two falling dead immediately while another dropped into the sea. Mr Lemacon is believed to have died in an exchange of fire as he tried to duck down the yacht's hatch.
Two pirates were confirmed dead, while another three were caught and are expected to be taken to France to stand trial.
The French Government, which is tough on pirates, instigated the military operation after negotiations with the pirates broke down.
Source: Telegraph, April 12, 2009