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Somali pirates demand $2 million ransom for US captain held hostage

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Saturday, April 11, 2009

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According to maritime authorities, Somali pirates that have been holding hostage a United States-flagged ship's captain in a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia demanded a ransom of US$2 million for his release.

Montage of Somali Pirates.
Image: Spencer.

The four pirates are holding Captain Richard Phillips aboard the lifeboat of the 17,000-tonne ship the Maersk Alabama, after a failed attempt to hijack the vessel.

Philips tried to escape from the pirates on Thursday by jumping out of the lifeboat and trying to swim to a US Navy destroyer nearby, but was recaptured by his captors.

Meanwhile, pirates who have seized a German vessel and its crew off the coast of Somalia were en route for the lifeboat, according to a pirate source.

"Knowing that the Americans will not destroy this German ship and its foreign crew, they [the pirates] hope they can meet their friends on the lifeboat," he said. "Our friends [aboard the lifeboat] hope for $2 million ransom as well as their own safety."

In a separate incident on Friday, the government of France stated that its navy seized a yacht that had been hijacked by the pirates in Somalian waters, but one of the hostages had been killed in a struggle between French special forces and the pirates.


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  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

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