French capture Somali pirates
2008-04-11 21:58
Paris - France said on Friday that its troops captured six pirates after they released 30 hostages they were holding aboard a French tourist yacht off Somalia's coast.
The French president's office said the pirates are now being held on a French Navy vessel.
French General Jean-Louis Georgelin said no public money was used to pay a ransom. But he hinted heavily that the boat's owners did hand over money, and that some of the ransom was recovered when the pirates were caught.
The general said French troops had recovered "interesting bags".
France sent an elite commando force to the East African region after pirates seized the boat, Le Ponant, in the Gulf of Aden on April 4. It carried no passengers but 30 crew members, 22 of them French.
- AP