Word: somali
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Getting to Diego Garcia is likely to take ships through or near waters inhabited by pirates - and the hijacking of this ship would dwarf the Somali pirate hijacking of the Saudi tanker last year. To protect this cargo, at least 15 Navy personnel, known as an Embarked Security Team, will be bunked aboard the container ship. "That's half a platoon strength onboard and they will be packing an awful lot of ammo and huge amount of firepower," says one ex-special forces soldier. "They will be Navy Seals with side arms and MP5Ks [compact submachine guns] for close quarters...
...rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, the American sailor held hostage by Somali pirates, came to a dramatic and happy conclusion on Sunday night off the coast of Africa. However, the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden remains - and may only be getting worse...
...dramatic rescue - which saw snipers on the U.S.S. Bainbridge kill the three pirates who held him hostage on a lifeboat 30 miles off the coast of Somalia - has significantly upped the ante with pirates who had previously not harmed hostages. (See pictures of the U.S.and the France fighting the Somali pirates...
Kenyan port employees who helped bring the crew to safety said the sailors were fearful of kidnappers even after they were well away from Somali waters. "When we were coming in," said Bernard Odemba, the Kenyan pilot who brought the Maersk Alabama to shore, "when they saw any boat coming around, it was as if they felt that maybe another group is coming to attack them. So I had to calm them down and say, 'No no no, that is our police boat; that is our one of the local boats, the friendly ones...
...fated pirates had not demanded a ransom for Phillips. Numerous shipping companies have paid millions of dollars in ransom to free some of the dozens of ships that have been hijacked in recent months off Somalia. A Somali man who said he was a go-between for Somali pirate leaders and the men who captured the Alabama told TIME that, before the rescue, the pirates had been unsure what to do with Phillips. The Somali man, who refused to give his name, said that the pirates were "very angry with how [Phillips] managed to free the crew" but that...