US frees alleged Somali pirates

2006-05-02 12:24

Nairobi - A group of alleged Somali pirates, captured by the American navy in March, has been freed and returned to Somalia after the United States declined to prosecute them, said a US official on Tuesday.

The official said 10 of the 12 suspected pirates detained on March 18 were handed over to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and repatriated at the weekend.

They were arrested after firing on US warships off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.

An official with the US embassy in Nairobi, which was involved in the release of the suspects, said: "The US decided not to prosecute these 10 individuals in the US, they were returned instead to Somalia.

"We thank both the government of Kenya and the ICRC for their assistance in repatriating them to their home country."

The 10 had been held on a US naval vessel off the coast of Kenya.

They were sent to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa on Saturday, where they were turned over to the ICRC and sent back to Somalia.

Two wounded will be repatriated later

The remaining two were wounded in the incident, when two US warships returned fire on their vessel.

The embassy official said the two would remain on the ship for treatment, and would be repatriated "when it is medically safe to do so".

He said the body of one alleged pirate, killed in the incident, would be returned to Somalia on completion of an autopsy.

The US navy said the alleged pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at the ships pursuing them. This prompted American sailors to shoot back. The US navy seized the alleged pirates and their vessel.

The Nairobi embassy official gave no reason for the US decision to release the suspects, who were not in control of any hijacked vessels when the incident took place.

Another group of alleged Somali pirates, captured by the US navy on a hijacked Indian dhow in January, are on trial in Mombasa.

- AFP