France: Pirates Captured, Hostages Freed

6 Pirates Apprehended After They Release 30 Crew Members They Held On Yacht Off Somalia

(AP)  Helicopter-borne French troops swooped in on Somali pirates Friday after they freed 30 hostages from a yacht, seizing six of the hijackers and recovering sacks of money — apparently ransom paid by the ship's owners.

The pirates boarded the 288-foot French luxury yacht Le Ponant a week ago, capturing its crew — 22 of whom were French — off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates seized more than two dozen vessels off the Somali coast last year, mostly in hopes of securing ransoms.

Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, the chief of staff of France's armed forces, said the pirates released the hostages after negotiations with the ship's owner. That phase of the operation was calm, with no weapons fired, he said. The hostages were brought smoothly to safely and the pirates went ashore.

Once the pirates were on Somali territory, a French attack helicopter chased a vehicle carrying some of them, firing to destroy its engine, the general said.

There were conflicting reports about what happened next.

Dahir Abdulqadir, a Somali governor in the region near where the yacht was held, said officials had heard "reports over VHF radio that at least eight people were killed." But the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy denied any pirates died in the raid.

Georgelin said six pirates — out of a dozen hostage-takers — were taken into custody and would be tried in French courts. All six "gave themselves up without too much difficulty," he added.

While insisting France did not pay a ransom, the general indicated the yacht's owners did.

"Naturally, absolutely no public money was paid in this affair," Georgelin said. He added: "Check with the ship owner. In capturing the pirates, we also recovered some interesting bags ... We recovered part of the ransom that was probably paid."

An official in Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region had warned France against paying a ransom, saying it would encourage pirates to take more hostages.

The chief of the company that owns the ship declined comment.

"It's obviously a very delicate and difficult context, and so the only thing you should take from this is the outcome — crew members who are going to be able to go home to their families," Jean-Emmanuel Sauvee told reporters after meeting with Sarkozy and families of the freed hostages.

Karim Meghoufel, the brother-in-law of a pastry chef aboard the boat, added, "We don't know how much they paid, and in any case, we don't want to know."

The hostages, including six Filipinos and a Ukrainian, were in good condition, officials said. Abdi-salan Qoje, a fisherman working on the Somali shore, said he saw dozens of people being ferried from the hijacked ship.

"They waved at us," he told The Associated Press by telephone from the village of Eyl, about 300 miles north of Mogadishu, capital of Somalia.

After the hostages were freed, they were put on a French military vessel and sent toward Djibouti. Relatives said they were expected in France on Sunday.

According to the ship owner's Web site, the three-mast, 64-passenger Le Ponant features four decks, two restaurants, and indoor and outdoor luxury lounges. About a dozen pirates stormed the yacht April 4 as it was returning without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea.

France's military quickly mobilized, sending in vessels and a commando force that conducts anti-terrorist and hostage rescue operations.

Somalia has been wracked by more than a decade of violence and anarchy and does not have its own navy. A transitional government formed in 2004 with U.N. help has struggled to assert control.

Sarkozy's chief diplomatic aide, Jean-David Levitte, said France planned to put forth anti-piracy measures at the U.N. Security Council. One suggestion is for states that can afford it to provide maritime patrols in waters where pirate attacks are a problem, he said.

Levitte said 3,200 people have been taken hostage at sea in the last 10 years in trouble spots around the world, with 500 of them wounded and 160 killed.

"We thought piracy had disappeared, but it has been revealed as a growing menace to international security," he said.

[excoachken]

Hey, France finally won one!

[b0ludo]

France has won many battles, including our freedom from British oppression... You may recall LaFayette and the fact that the French crown spent today''s equivalent of some $250 Billion dollars to pay for the French troops that fought here alongside the German mercenaries... You really don''t believe the story about the rag-tag band that defeated the most powerful army in the world by themselves, right? Left to his own devices, Washington had a tough time fighting his way out of a paper bag... Yorktown, the battle that defined the war was won with French and German troops carrying the brunt of the battle and the French Navy blockading the Brittish ships and bombarding British positions on land... Small details that are casually left out of our history books...

[brucer62]

You said "Too bad some places in the world are so bad off that many people feel they have no choice, but, to turn to crime in order to make a living."

No, too bad we have created a caste society where less than 1% of the worlds population controls %99.9 of the personal wealth. We create by our own hands, and our own inaction, a situation where people either resort to crime or starve and die.

Given the choice between theft and starvation, you will steal too.

[cfin5]

Been waiting to hear good news on this story. Hurray for the FRENCH! Keep the rescue details under wraps. They''ll just be ready to counter those next time. The French always start winning when the socialist aren''t in control,....''eh exCoachKen?

[mudrose-2009]

Been waiting to hear good news on this story. Hurray for the FRENCH! Keep the rescue details under wraps. They''''ll just be ready to counter those next time. The French always start winning when the socialist aren''''t in control,....''''eh exCoachKen?
Posted by cfin5

Tres bien!

[cfin5]

Tres bien!

Posted by mudrose at 02:57 PM : Apr 11, 2008-----Thanks, I couldn''t resist a little jab. Boring day today.

[procateur]

don''t forget an algerian terrorist group high jacked an air france plane resulting in the death of the terrorists by french forces intervention and the freeing off all the passengers on board (3 of them died though). ANd this under Miterrand (a socialist president ). Now you woudnt laugh if this incident is compared to the same on 9/11 with them carrying box cutters. hahaha

http://www.answers.com/topic/air-france-flight-8969

[mecury69]

"We have to know why people turn to piracy in the first place in order to try and prevent it.
Preventing piracy should be easier than fighting it."

Posted by Benst1

I think they answered this in the article...

"Somalia has been wracked by more than a decade of violence and anarchy and does not have its own navy. A transitional government formed in 2004 with U.N. help has struggled to assert control."

Does not sound like an easy fix to me.

[zykracosmos]

Congratulations to the French. A most professionally carried out plan.

[zykracosmos]

Somalia is the destiny of all but a few pockets of Africa. Overpopulated, vicious tribal warfare, ignorance, inadequate natural resources and destruction of their own ecological survival systems. When countries like Kenya, with the world''s highest population death rate (per capita) and still the world''s highest population growth rate (over 4% per year) continue to destroy the foundations of their life support systems (and all other creatures as well), what hope do you think exists for these people?

[hondousa]

YES! Great news, "France sent an elite commando force"
Been waiting for good news, beware all pirates, your messing with a force to be reckoned with, Thanks my French Brothers:-)

[wonderyman-2009]

Way to go France! Way to go!

[usbrit-2009]

Yorktown, the battle that defined the war was won with French and German troops carrying the brunt of the battle and the French Navy blockading the Brittish ships and bombarding British positions on land... Small details that are casually left out of our history books...

Posted by B0ludo

Americans are very good a selected history.

On this occasion "Vive la France!" (and this coming from an Englishman).

[usbrit-2009]

cfin5 and mudrose - you just can''t resist pointing out to the world what closed minded little ********* you really are, can you.

[prairiefox1]

GOOD JOB FRANCE! THE GOOD OLD USA WAY IS TO LET THEM ROT WHILE THEY SEND MEALY MOUTHED PEOPLE TO FLAP THEIR GUMS! YOUR WAY WORKS AND I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO DO THIS! WHO KNOWS! SOME IMBECILES MAY LEARN FROM YOU!

[jerr11]

France: Pirates Captured, Hostages Freed


Wow what a headline.

And seven years after 911, our Liar-in-Chief''s still chasing round the world trying to catch the world''s greatest pirate - Bin Laden, DEAD OR ALIVE!

[questionnews]

GOOD JOB FRANCE! THE GOOD OLD USA WAY IS TO LET THEM ROT WHILE THEY SEND MEALY MOUTHED PEOPLE TO FLAP THEIR GUMS! YOUR WAY WORKS AND I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO DO THIS! WHO KNOWS! SOME IMBECILES MAY LEARN FROM YOU!

Posted by prairiefox1 at 04:22 PM : Apr 11, 2008


Jimmy Carter was busy on his "I love Hamas" tour at the time. I''m not sure where Jesse & Al were. Usually Jesse & Al are all over this kind of white on black violence.

[cfin5]

cfin5 and mudrose - you just can''''t resist pointing out to the world what closed minded little ********* you really are, can you.

Posted by USBrit at 04:20 PM : Apr 11, 2008-----I wouldn''t talk too much if I were you. Read your "enlightened" defense of Jimmy Carter, the islamoweed farmer. I''ll suggest Benjamin Netanyahu has the answer.

[questionnews]

cfin5 and mudrose - you just can''''t resist pointing out to the world what closed minded little ********* you really are, can you.

Posted by USBrit at 04:20 PM : Apr 11, 2008

How do you get away with posting "*********" yet one cannot even spell the words like Dic.k Van D.yke.
See--*** Van ***

[fibonacci_]

Questionnews, exactly, idiotic, prudish, Christian Americans do not even allow you to post s*ex here.

[carpriddler]

Americans, especially that group in Utah, hate the French because they survived WWII without ending up in concentration camps. When American are in France they seem to not want to leave. The French military kicks butt all the time. Go eat some freedom fries cooked in oil you fat people love so much.

[bgwinnett]

Alle le France

Alle le Muscadet LOL.

[downsteamjim]

To Carpriddler: A few years ago in west Africa, France nearly made history by getting caught between two factions and almost losing to both at the same time. But all in all, I''m glad to see France give pirates get what they deserve.

[cfin5]

cfin5 and mudrose - you just can''''t resist pointing out to the world what closed minded little ********* you really are, can you.

Posted by USBrit at 04:20 PM : Apr 11, 2008-----You know something guys? My ancestors were from Scotland, so I thought about this post some more tonight and got to grinning about this Brits comment about me being "little". Don''t mind him exercising OUR 1st. Amendment rights at all. I''m sure England would like to have the wealth of rights that we EARNED from them I guess. It''s rather refreshing to have someone speak their mind''s attitude towards me with honesty. Nobody when seeing me does that, and I can tell it right off the bat. Wonder why that is? I''m not a meany,.....but my arms have never been laid either. Someday that will happen as there is always someone physically stronger than you are. But when it does happen, I hope it will be an AMERICAN!

[heraldtkel]

That suprises us, the french are well known for being cowards. www.theoandavirus.com

[glock4me]

Stunning!! Were the troops actual Frenchmen? You know the most fearsome fighting unit the Frogs have is the French Foreign Legion... which is comprised entirely of foreigners (non-French).

[swwils]

Man, the French on the move!That was some Hollywood S@#$,they didn''t horse around.French commando''s good job.I watched that special report on Piracy,and there is some 3,000 ships that get jacked a year,but it is never reported.Insurance and corporate corruption.