Saturday, May 21, 2011
The men were the first of 13 Somalis and one Yemeni brought to the United States to face prosecution for the incident, though none were charged with murder. The four Americans were killed as the U.S. military tried to negotiate their release.
Mohamud Salad Ali, Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali and Ali Abdi Mohamed all pleaded guilty in a federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, to acts of piracy and hostage taking involving the S/V Quest in February.
They said in their plea agreements that they played no direct role in the death of the Americans, Jean and Scott Adam of California and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle.
Several others charged in the case have plea hearings scheduled for next week, according to court records.
The group of pirates seized the yacht and were negotiating with the U.S. military to release the couples when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from the yacht at the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett.
Gunfire then broke out inside the pirated vessel, prompting the U.S. military to send American special forces to the boat. The pirates shot the hostages before American troops boarded the yacht, according to the U.S. military.
U.S. troops killed two pirates as they boarded and another two were found dead when they arrived, however they were not killed by U.S. forces, the military has said.
Source: Reuters