Has anybody even heard from the captain since his escape attempt? They fired into the water at him; I wonder if he’s even alive. Supposedly they want to get to shore to “negotiate” from there.
From CBSnews, yesterday,
High-Seas Pirate Hostage Drama Escalates
............."
Phillips is now tied up and no longer able to talk on the radio - but otherwise unharmed, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. "........
..................."The Somali, who helped negotiate a ransom last year to pirates after they seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said he has talked with a pirate leader in Somalia who helped coordinate the failed effort to seize the Alabama.
He said
the pirate leader had been in direct contact with the lifeboat via a satellite phone but lost contact after Phillips' captors threw the phone - and a two-way radio dropped to them by the U.S. Navy - into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow using the equipment to give instructions to the captain. They acted after Phillips' failed effort to escape. ".................