World
US warships track hostage-holding pirates
The US-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship is seen docked at the Kenyan coastal sea port of Mombasa, 500 km (311 miles) from the capital Nairobi, April 12, 2009. A lifeboat used by Somali pirates holding a US merchant marine captain Richard Phillips captive drifted toward Somalia's lawless coast on Sunday, with US warships tracking it to keep the pirates from escaping to shore. REUTERS
Posted Sunday, April 12 2009 at 13:17
It was unclear if the helicopters were sent to intimidate the pirates on land or as some step in a mediation process.
Pirates have various bases around Haradheere, and are holding some hijacked vessels in the area.
Bad memories
The Maersk Alabama, which was carrying thousands of tons of food aid for Somalia, Uganda and Kenya, arrived safely in the Kenyan port of Mombasa on Saturday.
"The captain is a hero," one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton ship as it docked. "He saved our lives by giving himself up."
The standoff has forced US President Barack Obama to focus on a place most Americans would rather forget. A US intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s was a disaster, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle in 1993 that killed 18 US troops and inspired a book and a movie.
John Reinhart, president of Maersk Line Ltd, said the FBI was investigating the hijacking in Kenya.
"Because of the pirate attack, the FBI has informed us that this ship is a crime scene," he told reporters.
Somali elders sent a mediator on Saturday in the hope of resolving the situation.
"They are just looking to arrange safe passage for the pirates, no ransom," said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of a regional group that monitors piracy.
The mediator took to sea in a boat but it was unclear how he planned to reach the pirates.
On Saturday, pirates captured an Italian-flagged tugboat towing two barges with 16 crew including 10 Italians in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates are keeping about 17 captured vessels on the Somali coast, six of them taken in the last week alone.
The foreign minister of Somalia's fledgling government said the piracy could only be stopped with stability and security onshore, not by foreign navies patrolling the sea.
"We can certainly resolve (piracy) in partnership with the international community. Our first priority is to re-establish the rule of law. For that, we have requested from the foreign community assistance to build our security forces," Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar told Reuters.
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The pirates messed with the wrong dudes this time around...there will be no ransom paid and any foolish move on their side will have the entire mainland carpet-bombed by Apache Choppers!
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