megimoo
04-12-2009, 05:40 AM
Pirates Fire On U.S. Navy
"Isn't Firing on a Sovereign National Vessel an Act of War? Hey Obama Where Do You Keep Your Testicles these days ?"
Gunfire Erupts As Sailors Approach Lifeboat Holding Somali Bandits And Hostage;
Pirates opened fired as a small U.S. Navy team approached the enclosed lifeboat on which an American was being held hostage in waters off the coast of Somalia, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozer reports.
A Defense Department official told CBS News that the Navy team was in a rubber craft headed toward the lifeboat holding the kidnapped captain of the Maersk Alabama when Somali pirates fired at or in the general direction of the Navy boat.
The U.S. official would not confirm whether they traded fire.
He told Dozier that the Navy craft did not retreat, noting, “It’s an ongoing operation. Things change on the ground. Last update we had was a while ago.”
The official did confirm that from this operation they have proof that Captain Richard Phillips is still safe.
Two Navy warships are in the vicinity of the lifeboat, with a third on the way, and they are working to not let the pirates reach shore.
Capt. Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged ship, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda. He told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin, crew members told stateside relatives.
Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men. The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with the captain to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.
Meanwhile, Somali pirates have hijacked an American-owned, Italian-flagged tugboat with a 16-member crew in the Gulf of Aden.
Shona Lowe, a spokeswoman at NATO's Northwood maritime command center, confirmed that the tugboat was hijacked Saturday morning in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast when it was towing barges.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/11/world/main4936857.shtml
"Isn't Firing on a Sovereign National Vessel an Act of War? Hey Obama Where Do You Keep Your Testicles these days ?"
Gunfire Erupts As Sailors Approach Lifeboat Holding Somali Bandits And Hostage;
Pirates opened fired as a small U.S. Navy team approached the enclosed lifeboat on which an American was being held hostage in waters off the coast of Somalia, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozer reports.
A Defense Department official told CBS News that the Navy team was in a rubber craft headed toward the lifeboat holding the kidnapped captain of the Maersk Alabama when Somali pirates fired at or in the general direction of the Navy boat.
The U.S. official would not confirm whether they traded fire.
He told Dozier that the Navy craft did not retreat, noting, “It’s an ongoing operation. Things change on the ground. Last update we had was a while ago.”
The official did confirm that from this operation they have proof that Captain Richard Phillips is still safe.
Two Navy warships are in the vicinity of the lifeboat, with a third on the way, and they are working to not let the pirates reach shore.
Capt. Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged ship, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda. He told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin, crew members told stateside relatives.
Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men. The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with the captain to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.
Meanwhile, Somali pirates have hijacked an American-owned, Italian-flagged tugboat with a 16-member crew in the Gulf of Aden.
Shona Lowe, a spokeswoman at NATO's Northwood maritime command center, confirmed that the tugboat was hijacked Saturday morning in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast when it was towing barges.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/11/world/main4936857.shtml