Word: spanishness
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That's because the pirates have made the return of their two colleagues, who were arrested by the Spanish frigate Canarias on Oct. 3, a condition of the hostages' release. It's not the first time Somali pirates have been extradited to stand trial far from home: France, the Netherlands and the U.S. have all done the same. None of those extraditions took place, however, while the pirates still held hostages. For the Spanish government, now caught between risking the lives of its citizens and caving to pirate pressure, the situation seems to have no easy resolution. (See pictures...
...actually taken away," says Stephen Askins, a maritime lawyer at Ince and Co., a London-based firm that specializes in international trade. "There's a 'capture and release' policy in a lot of these cases. So it's not clear why, given the circumstances, that the Spanish would have chosen to complicate the situation by extraditing these...
What is clear is that pressure for a solution is growing. After threatening to kill the hostages in threes until their comrades were returned, the pirates on the Alakrana removed a trio of hostages from the ship and brought them to shore on Nov. 6. Although the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the three have since been safely returned onboard, Andrew Mwangura, director of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, which is involved in the negotiations, denies the claim. "The three are not on the ship," he says. (Read "How China Is Battling Its Pirate Problem...
Families of the Spanish captives, who have had occasional communication with their loved ones, are becoming increasingly desperate. "We know that their situation is getting worse and that their lives are in danger if we don't find an immediate solution," says Argi Garribaltu, sister of the Alakrana's captain. "This is not a game...
...government's stance seems set. On Nov. 8, Spain's ambassador to Kenya met with Omar Abrirashid Ali Sharmarke, who is Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. The following day, after declaring that the two pirates "have to be tried," Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamaño Dominguez affirmed that the administration had left open the door to a trial in Somalia if an agreement could be reached. Because Spain has no extradition treaty with Somalia, which it considers to be a failed state, the government is said to be considering turning the two men over...