Tuesday, April 13, 2010
It was a spectacular mission in the Horn of Africa: A Dutch commando dropped from a military helicopter onto the deck of the German container ship MS Taipan, which was commandeered by 10 pirates.
The special forces personnel had no trouble overpowering and arresting the pirates. It was the first successful commando operation by Western forces on a captured vessel in the pirate-infested Horn of Africa.
The Dutch government has since urged German officials to take over and try the detained suspects, German news magazine Der Spiegel reports.
Berlin has always tried to prevent trying pirates on German ground but the latest case is too strong not to open proceedings. The operation took place outside the jurisdiction of the EU anti-piracy mission Atalanta, the ship was sailing under a German flag and two of its crew are German nationals.
A Hamburg court has requested the extradition of the 10 suspects to Germany, Der Spiegel writes.
Source: UPI