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Freed Pirates May Have Drowned
AFRICA NEWS
MAY 11, 2010, 11:31 A.M. ET
By SARAH CHILDRESS in Nairobi, Kenya, ABDINASIR MOHAMED in Mogadishu, Somalia and GREG WHITE in Moscow
Ten Pirates released from a Russian warship 300 miles out to sea may have drowned, according to Russian officials and colleagues of the pirates, raising fears of retaliation against other vessels plying East African waters.
The pirates were captured last week after they hijacked the Moscow University, a Liberian-flagged, Russian-operated oil tanker sailing off the Somali coast. A Russian warship came to the ship's rescue and apprehended the pirates. But after determining it would be too difficult to obtain a conviction, Russian officials said that they dropped plans to take the pirates to Moscow for trial.
Instead, like many other warships that have intercepted pirate skiffs, the Russian marines released the pirates — but not before removing weapons and navigation equipment from the boat several hundred miles from shore. Russian officials gave no explanation for removing the navigation equipment.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson said radio signals from the boat disappeared about an hour after the release. "That could mean that they are dead," the spokesperson said....