25.3.10

al-Mezaan: "Pirates" freed, body vanishes?

Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy












It is not clear, says the NY Times, what happened to the body found by a Spanish boarding party in a skiff attacked by a Spanish helicopter off Haradere. Units commanded by Force Commander, Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy, let go six individuals found in skiffs 60 miles south of Haradere, a beach frequently used by pirates after the captain of the MV Almezaan said he could not identify the men detained by the Spanish navy as the group of pirates who attacked him,

It was not clear what had happened to the body of "the slain attacker." [or individual who had died.]The suspects were freed because the captain of the ship they were accused of attacking declined to identify them for the purposes of legal action.
They were captured after private contractors on board the cargo ship, the Almezaan, repulsed two attempts to commandeer the vessel and killed a seventh attacker in the process.

Frigate ESPS NAVARRA, from the Spanish Navy, launched her helicopter, quickly locating the ALMEZAAN and the pirates’ boats, known as skiffs. When the suspects failed to heed the helicopter’s instructions to stop, warning shots were fired by the aircraft, after which a team from NAVARRA boarded a skiff.

There were three boats, comprising one mother ship and two pirate skiffs. In the first skiff they found three suspected pirates and, in the second, three suspects and a fourth individual, who had died. The body has been transferred to NAVARRA, and an investigation indicated that the individual had died from small calibre gunshot wounds.

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