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| Africa Horn |
| Dutch forces free pirate captives |
| 2009-04-18 |
| Dutch commandos have freed 20 people who had been captured by Somali pirates after the raiders attacked a Greek-managed tanker, Nato says. The captives, Yemeni fishermen, were freed as the Dutch forces captured seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden. They were aboard a pirate "mother ship" from which smaller craft attack commercial vessels. The captured pirates are alleged to have attacked the tanker using assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. A Dutch warship from the Nato force responded to a distress call from the tanker and saw the pirates fleeing toward a Yemeni fishing trawler, Nato spokesman Alexandre Santos Fernandes said. Nato troops boarded the vessel and freed the 20 Yemenis who, he says, had been held hostage since Sunday. The pirates were set free, the Associated Press news agency reports, because under Dutch law they could not be held at sea under the circumstances in which they were captured. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #10 Nah, the Maersk Alabama pirate will be tried in NY, found innocent, given asylum and a scholarship to Harvard, and will run for POTUS in 2028. If his middle name is Hussein, he'll probably win. |
| Posted by: Zorba Craising6734 2009-04-18 19:53 |
| #9 I guess we just want to make sure the shipping industry isn't profitable either. |
| Posted by: Gluting Fillmore6653 2009-04-18 19:18 |
| #8 every pirate captured by any ship under NATO should be turned over too a "special" boat with some of our special forces on board. Then shoot them into head and dump over board after the other NATO sip is ut of range |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-04-18 14:43 |
| #7 Playing the Devil's Advocate: Releasing them in Somalia is still preferable to a trial in a western country. If they're convicted the sentence will be light and after legal procedures they will stay in the west as immigrants or asylum seekers, probably on welfare. I wouldn't be too surprised if e.g. the surviving pirate of the Maersk Alabama attack were to end up as a |
| Posted by: Victor Emmanuel Spease5117 2009-04-18 14:42 |
| #6 #5: The West has lost its survival instinct. Posted by: Keystone|| No, just over-lawyered. One day, perhaps very soon, that will change. When that change happens, I wouldn't want to be a lawyer. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-04-18 14:02 |
| #5 The West has lost its survival instinct. |
| Posted by: Keystone 2009-04-18 11:31 |
| #4 No doubt the pirates laughed and laughed and laughed all the way back to port. And are still laughing. And spreading the word. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2009-04-18 09:40 |
| #3 No, don't capture them at all. They are pirates on the open sea. Shoot them dead. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-04-18 08:47 |
| #2 The pirates were set free, the Associated Press news agency reports, because under Dutch law they could not be held at sea under the circumstances in which they were captured. For crying out loud - capture them under different circumstances. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2009-04-18 08:37 |
| #1 Hmmm are we sure the headline shouldn't be Dutch Break Up Somali Pirate/Yemeni Terrorist Dance Mixer? |
| Posted by: regular joe 2009-04-18 08:36 |