Posted on 05/11/2010 4:45:38 PM PDT by traumer
Ten suspected Somali pirates captured by the Russian navy last week may have perished after their release, a defence source in Moscow has told reporters.
Marines seized them during a dramatic operation to free a hijacked Russian oil tanker far from shore, killing an 11th suspect in the gun battle.
They were released in an inflatable boat without navigational equipment.
Within an hour, contact was lost with the boat's radio beacon, the defence source said.
"It seems that they all died," the unnamed source was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.
Russia initially said the 10 pirates would be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges over the hijacking, but they were released instead because there were not sufficient legal grounds to detain them, the defence ministry in Moscow said.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Russia is a signatory, gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates.
Western officials were very surprised when the Russian authorities dropped plans to put the pirates on trial in Moscow, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Moscow.
Now there is even more surprise the pirates were set adrift in the Indian Ocean to make their own way home, he adds.
Unknown factors
The tanker, the Moscow University, was seized on 5 May some 350km (190 nautical miles) off the Yemeni island of Socotra as it sailed for China, carrying crude oil worth $50m (£33m).
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Comments 39 and 40 gave me a much needed laugh (thanks!) but may have startled the ground squirrel that has been stalking me...
I’m guessing that it was an inflatable boat with a slow leak?
LOL Yep inflatable boats don’t go too far after they’ve been shot!
Here are the 11 pirates before they were set free. One appears to be dead.
Perhaps those western officials should compare the estimated cost of those trials to the cost of a few bullets through the raft.
A nation must prioritize its expenditures.
Ping
"He's not dead, he's resting."
Maybe a Russian sub just happened to blow ballast directly beneath them.
interesting that there is concertina wire on the rail.
I am beginning to like the Russians. The score is Putin 8 , Obama 0 ( zip, nada, zero).
Putin scores.....( 1) Georgia, 2)Poland star wars, 3)Iran nukes, 4)Iran Russian-Air Defence missile systems,5)Russia supplies nuclear tech to Iran, 6)Russian does not participate in Iran sanctions, 7)Russia disarms outdated missiles to USA s state of the art missiles one for one,8) Russia does catch and release with Muslim pirates ( Obama surrenders)
Obama loses, BIG TIME.
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