(AP Photo) Crew members of on board a cargo ship MV Ludwing Schulte, walk on the deck of the ship protected by razor wire at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, April 19, 2010 as the ship started off-loading its cargo. Most of the ships carrying cargo to the port of Mombasa through the Somali waters have started erecting razor wire on the deck of of the ship to keep away Somali pirates from hijacking their ships by climbing through the deck.
Eleven suspected pirates were being flown to the United States Thursday to stand trial in alleged attacks on U.S. naval vessels off the coast of Africa, officials said.
The suspects were expected to appear in court in Norfolk, Va., for indictment as early as Friday morning, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cases publicly.
The 11 have been held on U.S. ships for weeks off Somalia's pirate-infested coast and nearby regions as officials worked to determine whether and where they could be prosecuted and prepare legal charges against them.
The suspects were taken from the USS Nassau amphibious assault ship Thursday, handed over to U.S. law enforcement officials and were being flown to Virginia on a government plane in the custody of the Justice Department, one official said.
The transfer of the case to a U.S. court comes amid discussions about setting up an international court to prosecute piracy suspects, which some nations have been reluctant to do. Some pirates have been released after capture because no nation could be found to try them.
The question of piracy prosecutions is part of a broader U.S. policy debate over policy on Somalia, which has been without a government since 1991 and has become a haven for al-Qaida-linked terrorists as well as pirates.
Ships traveling off the Somali coast have been confronted by young men traveling in skiffs, armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades and sometimes hopped up on the narcotic plant called qat that is popular with Somalis.
Five of those being flown to Virginia Thursday were captured March 31, after the frigate USS Nicholas exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel west of the Seychelles, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.
The other six suspects were captured after they allegedly began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland on April 10 about 380 miles off Djibouti, a small nation facing Yemen across the mouth of the Red Sea.
Another 10 pirates remained at sea in Navy custody Thursday, captured in another incident when the destroyer USS McFaul responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel. It was not clear whether those 10 will now be released or handed to over to another country for prosecution, the officials said.
U.S. warships are part of an international flotilla protecting shipping in the region. The navies of other countries have also have taken alleged pirates home for trial.
But some countries are reluctant to try suspects due to difficulties transporting them, fears they may claim asylum and thorny jurisdiction issues.
Kenya, to the south of Somalia, has taken some to its courts but now says pirates are putting too much strain on the country's court system.
Some of those being flown to the U.S. were injured during hijacking incidents on the seas and have received treatment from the Navy. One official said one of the suspects had a leg amputated.
Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, the top U.S. naval officer in Africa and Europe, said last week that the Navy had handed over evidence on the five alleged to have attacked the USS Nicholas, including the pirates' weapons, photographic evidence and proof that small arms fire hit the ship.
It was not known what charges would be placed against the suspects.
Source: The Associated Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment