The Associated PressPublished: September 16, 2008
PARIS: French troops stormed a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates, killing one, capturing six and freeing their two French hostages in a raid that President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday was a warning to criminals on the high seas.
Sarkozy urged the world to mobilize against maritime piracy and said the overnight military assault that freed Jean-Yves and Bernadette Delanne - the second such French operation in five months - was a demonstration of France's "unbending determination against piracy."
"The pirates now know that they are taking risks, big risks," Sarkozy said.
The Delanne couple, from French Polynesia, were sailing a friend's boat from Australia to France when they were captured Sept. 2 by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
About 30 French soldiers took part in what Sarkozy called a meticulously planned assault that he ordered Monday night. The hostages were freed in 10 minutes and the soldiers were unhurt, he said.
Sarkozy said he ordered the rescue when it became clear that the pirates planned to take the hostages to Eyl, a Somali zone that serves as a base for numerous pirates.
"Their captivity could have lasted months," he said.
High winds delayed the assault for two successive nights, he added.
Piracy off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden has "literally exploded" this year, Sarkozy said, noting that Somali pirates are holding 150 people and at least 15 ships, mainly in Eyl.
The Gulf of Aden has been the scene of most of the 54 pirate attacks this year off Somalia. Sarkozy said that some 48,000 ships pass through the gulf annually.
He said France would take action in the United Nations Security Council to mobilize the international community against "this plague" of piracy.
"The world cannot accept this," he said. "Today, these are no longer isolated cases but a genuine industry of crime. This industry casts doubt on a fundamental freedom: that of movement and of international commerce."
He added: "I call on the other countries of the world to assume their responsibilities, as France has done - twice."
On Monday, European Union foreign ministers agreed to set up a special unit to coordinate warship patrols off Somalia to protect shipping.
The ministers said the new warship unit should be established within the next few days to coordinate "surveillance and protection activities" by the navies of the 27-nation bloc.
Several EU nations have sent warships to the coast of the East African nation to stop pirates who have been seizing yachts, freighters and fishing boats.
Ships from France, Denmark and the Netherlands, along with Canada, have also escorted vessels carrying food aid to Somalia for the United Nations since November.
A U.S. task force also helps maintain security off Somalia and nearby countries and the U.S. military said last year that a U.S. Navy ship fired on pirates who overtook a Danish vessel.
Sarkozy said he intended to bring the six pirates - now held on a French frigate - to France. But he left open the possibility that Somalia could keep them if "we are certain that these pirates will be tried, sentenced and will serve out their punishments."
The body of the slain pirate will be handed over to the Somali authorities, he added.
In April, helicopter-borne French troops swooped in on Somali pirates after the pirates freed 30 hostages from a yacht, seizing 6 of the hijackers and recovering sacks of money - apparently ransom paid by the ship's owners.
Sarkozy said a ransom demand was made, but not paid, in the latest case.
He noted that armed pirates hijacked a Hong Kong chemical tanker with 22 crew members in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.
― Michael White, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 21:06 (seventeen years ago)
Somali pirates plus SONIC GUN.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/nov/07/world.travelnews
Merchant seamen have demanded a UN crackdown on international piracy after raiders armed with grenade launchers and machine guns tried to hijack a luxury cruise liner off Somalia on Saturday.
Two boats full of pirates approached the Seabourn Spirit and opened fire while bandits tried to get on board. A rocket-propelled grenade crashed through the side of the liner and into a suite. Its sleeping occupants were unhurt.
"The captain came on the loudspeaker, telling everyone that there were 'unfriendly' vessels on the starboard side and to stay in our rooms," said an American passenger, Charles Supple. From his window he saw a pirate fire the rocket launcher. "We suffered many broken windows, and the rocket I saw stuck in the side, leaving a big black area from the explosion, but no major damage."
The ship escaped by speeding up, then it tacked and the crew deployed a high-decibel sonic gun to deafen the pirates.
― GamalielRatsey, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 21:19 (seventeen years ago)
three years pass...