Thread: BREAKING NEWS: Captured American ship captain freed

BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Navy reports captured American ship captain freed, 3 Somali pirates killed in firefight .

Navy Rescues Captain, 3 Pirates Killed

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, AP
posted: ONE MINUTE AGOcomments:

MOMBASA, Kenya (April 12) - An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a U.S. Navy operation that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

One of the pirates was wounded and in custody after a swift firefight, the official said.

Four days after Somali pirates took the captain of a U.S.-flagged ship hostage off the coast of Somalia, an American intelligence official said Sunday that he has been freed. Richard Phillips, above, was being held captive since Wednesday on a lifeboat after several pirates boarded the the Maersk Alabama in an attempt to hijack it. Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men.(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)

Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A government official and others in Somali with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.

The district commissioner of the central Mudug 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 the elders 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.

http://news.aol.com/article/pirates-hol ... ain/419066

Already posted http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-881511.html#881511

now, this is some good news

Originally Posted by jamesw62

now, this is some good news

This is the best outcome possible.

The American is alive and safe.

The pirates are dead and we don't have to waste time and money on a trial.

Thank God! IMO those pirates need the same punishment that they used to give pirates in the old days.

Not just that - I've been reading a lot about the Great Depression lately. Most people are not aware that after Bonnie and Clyde were killed, the law rounded up a lot of people who were seen as having aided and abetted them and put them on trial. Even the mothers got a little jail time. Hmmm.....

It should not have taken 4 days.

We should not back down from those terrorists. Quit giving them money and deal with them swiftly.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

It should not have taken 4 days.

Dixie

If you move in at the wrong time they would have shot the captain.
It's usually works out best to wait and let them get tired and confused.

And the American comes out alive, and they don't.

Thank God the brave American is safe!

Officer: Split-second decision to fire on pirates

By LARA JAKES, The Associated Press
2:52 p.m. April 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — A U.S. military official says Navy Seals and other officers opened fire on three pirates when a Navy commander made a split-second decision that an American hostage's life was in danger.
Vice Adm. Bill Gortney also says the pirates made a ransom demand for the release of Capt. Richard Phillips.

Gortney says the pirates threatened throughout the ordeal to kill Phillips. Gortney says the pirates were armed with AK-47s and small-caliber pistols, and were pointing the AK-47s at the captain.
Gortney says the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge believed Phillips was in "imminent danger" when he ordered sailors to fire at the armed pirates.

Gortney says the White House had given "very clear guidance and authority" that if any time the commander Capt. Phillips' life was in danger to take action to make sure it was not

Gortney spoke in a telephone conference call from Bahrain. He is the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... cy-041209/