Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 – Somali pirates killed all four Americans they had held hostage aboard a sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean this morning, U.S. Central Command officials announced. U.S. officials were negotiating with the pirates for the safe return of the captured Americans when the murders took place, officials said. Centcom officials said that in the midst of negotiations, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest. When the forces reached the boat, officials said, they discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately...

NORFOLK Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni captured after four Americans were killed aboard a yacht last month are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this afternoon on piracy, kidnapping and gun charges. The men were brought into the federal courthouse in downtown Norfolk this morning. The group was turned over to the Justice Department on Wednesday after being held aboard the carrier Enterprise since the Feb. 22 shooting deaths of the Americans. A Navy spokesman said the Somalis were removed from the ship by Department of Justice officials. A federal grand jury indicted 14 suspected pirates, the...