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Somali pirates kill four Americans to revenege comrades

February 22, 2011   ·   2038618 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Fsomali-pirates-kill-four-americans-to-revenege-comrades-20386Somali+pirates+kill+four+Americans+to+revenege+comrades2011-02-22+22%3A53%3A30Hassan+Alihttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D20386

BOSASSO — Somali pirates shot dead four American hostages on their private yacht near the coast of Somalia on Tuesday during an American special forces operation.

According to Gen James N. Mattis, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, Jean and Scot Adam from California and their friends Phyllis MacKay and Bob Riggle from Washington state were gunned down by the pirates minutes before the rescue team boarded the vessel.

Gen Mattis said the American forces killed two pirates including one in a knife fight and took 15 more into custody. The U.S. government believes 19 pirates were involved in the attack and two of them were already dead on the yacht. It is not clear whether the pirates had killed them over possible disputes or they died of natural causes.

However, some local Somalis have expressed suspicious over the two mystery deaths. Some believe two pirates boarded the USS Sterett, a guided-missile destroyer to negotiate however the Americans killed them with a knife in a move to isolate and eliminate them. When the two did not return, they believe, the pirates shot the American hostages.

In April 2009, U.S. Navy SEALs fatally shot three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage in a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean. Richard Phillips, captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama and Abdulwali Abdukhadir Muse, the only surviving pirate were recovered by the Navy. Mr Muse has been sentenced to almost 34 years in prison in a federal court in New York on Wednesday morning (Feb 16).

The Somali pirates vowed to avenge the three comrades and Mr Muse, warning the U.S. military of trying to use force against them again. They insisted they would kill any Americans if U.S. warships followed them.

Two pirates based in Bandar-Bayla, a small fishing town in pirate infested-semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia told Reuters they ordered the killing of the American hostages.

“Our colleagues called us this morning, that they were being attacked by a U.S. warship,” Mohamud, a Somali pirate, told Reuters. “We ordered our comrades to kill the four Americans before they got killed.”

Farah, the other pirate boss, said he invested US$110,000 to cover operational costs including arms, food and wages.

Many of Somalia’s pirate “bosses” are based in the Puntland region which include former and current political figures and local businessmen. The Puntland president Abdirahman Farole has cashed at least $8 million from ransoms. Other major pirate leaders include Hassan Abshir Farah, a former Somali diplomat, political veteran and Puntland region’s former Interior Minister. He is said to have profited more than $10 million.

The Somali Diaspora community is the second largest single financiers of the piracy trade. Many send thousands back to Puntland region and central Somalia pay for operation costs in hopes of getting a big return (see Somali pirates take four Americans — the true face of piracy).

Local experts from the region believe the tough American stance towards pirates including the recent stiff sentencing by the Manhattan Court will not deter piracy attacks. “The issue goes beyond the young men who are recruited as pirates. Those very poor teens only want to feed their families. The international community needs to focus their attention on financiers including regional officials and foreign accounts. They should destroy all pirate ships off the coast of Somalia,” Hassan Awale Dahir said.

Jean and Scott Adam were Christian couple who were sailing on their 58-foot S/V Quest around the world to handout bibles to third world nations. They were hijacked on Friday by heavily-armed men and have been sailing towards the Puntland coast of Somalia for the past four days.

President Obama who had authorized the use of force against pirates is yet to offer his condolences to the families of the victims however the U.S. military was able to issue one.

Somalilandpress | 22 Feb 2011

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By Hassan Ali

Tags: America, Jean and Scot Adam, pirates, Somalia, US navy