New bid to free captain of pirated US ship

The Maersk Alabama's crew, now in Kenya, tells story as negotiations continue over captain held hostage.

By Tom A. Peter

posted April 12, 2009 at 9:32 am EST

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

After arriving safely in Mombasa, Kenya, on Saturday night, the sailors aboard the first American ship to be attacked by pirates in 200 years have begun to tell their story. Negotiations are still under way to secure the release of the US captain being held hostage.

The tale of the men's fight against the pirates – which comes after French commandos raided a hijacked yacht – may mark a dramatic turning point as sailors and government forces begin taking a firm stand against pirates. There is, however, no indication that attacks will decrease in the immediate future.

Although the Maersk Alabama's crew, who are still being questioned by the FBI, CIA, and other US government agencies, has remained largely quiet about their ordeal, they spoke briefly to the press about their battle with the pirates. On Wednesday, the Somali raiders came at the ship from the stern, reports the Times of London, firing shots into the air, and boarding with hooks. The ship's captain, Richard Phillips, surrendered himself to the pirates in an attempt to save his crew.

[Crew member ATM] Reza, a father of one[,] told how he led one of the pirates to the engine room, where he stabbed him in the hand with an ice pick and tied him up.

The rest of the crew did not give more details, but have told family members by phone that they took one pirate hostage before giving him up in the hope their captain would be released. Instead, the Somalis fled with Captain Phillips to the lifeboat.

Captain Phillips remains in pirate custody, despite an escape attempt on Friday. As a US warship monitors the situation, American negotiators have been working with leaders from the pirates' village to broker a deal for the captain's release, but the Chicago Tribune reports that a compromise has yet to be reached. Village elders are demanding that the four pirates holding the captain be return to Somalia for prosecution, while the US has demanded their arrest.

The BBC reported that Somali elders were setting sail from the Somali town of Eyl in a fresh bid to resolve the situation. The pirates have warned the US not to try to take the captain by force.

In the latest attempt to end the stand-off, elders said to be related to the pirates set sail from the northern Somali town of Eyl. US military officials confirmed fresh negotiations were under way.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Mombasa says the main stumbling block is the pirates' demand to be allowed to return to land before returning the hostage.

While the crew members were relieved to have arrived safely in Mombasa, Kenya, the ship's original destination, many were still upset by their captain's continued detention. The Independent reports that one unnamed crew member confronted reporters on Saturday night, saying, "He's out there dying so we can live." The distraught mariner, angry with the media attention, then swore at reporters before smashing a cup and retreating below deck.

Meanwhile, on Friday, French commandos managed to take back a 42-ft. yacht hijacked by pirates a week ago. One of the French captives was killed during the raid and there remains speculation about whether he was killed by French or Somali fire. It is the third time this year that French forces have freed citizens from pirates, reports the Guardian.

Despite crews and naval forces taking a more aggressive posture, it seems unlikely that attacks will decrease. While there was a slight reduction in piracy in the first few months of this year, The National reports that it may have had more to do with the weather than the effectiveness of naval operations.

Roger Middleton, a piracy expert from Chatham House said: "the navies have fallen victim to their own success. The effectiveness of the patrols in the Gulf of Aden seem to have caused the pirates to refocus their attentions on the western Indian ocean.

"One other factor lies behind the recent successes of the pirates: the weather. Very bad at the beginning of the year, it has now improved enough for pirates to get alongside targets with ease.

"Now hijackers are threatening an area of up to two million square miles, they are much harder to locate. European, US and other navies are still overwhelmingly concentrated off Somalia's northern shore, hours or even days journey away from the recent attacks."

The New York Times reports that although the US may be preparing to take action against the Somali pirates as it did against the Barbary pirates 200 years ago, it now faces a far different enemy. The Times considers whether the US will launch an all-out war against the pirates as it did two centuries ago.

Will this happen in Somalia? Last week – even before a French effort to rescue a family in a separate hijacking ended with the death of one hostage – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the world to "end the scourge of piracy." But Somali piracy is not an isolated problem. It's the latest symptom of what afflicts an utterly failed state – a free-for-all on land that has consumed the country since the central government imploded in 1991. As any warlord there can tell you, the violence is almost always about cash. "We just want the money" is their mantra.

Putting an end to the pirate problem may require that the US and other nations to look beyond Somalia. The Associated Press reports that, while there are "no direct ties" between the pirates and terror groups, Somali expatriates fund piracy operations, exchanging equipment and information for a share of the ransoms.