Yacht crew tells of hostage ordeal with Somalia

Agence France-Presse

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Close this PARIS -- Hostages released from a luxury yacht told Sunday how they turned hoses on rifle-wielding pirates in a desperate bid to repel them before being captured and held for a week off the Somali coast.

The pirates then began shooting with Kalashnikov rifles as they drew close to the yacht, Le Ponant, skipper Patrick Marchesseau said in a video released by the defense ministry.

Six hostage-takers were arrested in a dramatic raid Friday by French commandos as they tried to escape in a 4x4 vehicle, having gone ashore after releasing the crew members of the three-masted yacht for a ransom.

Marchesseau said he had managed to contact authorities without the pirates' knowledge, despite being warned not to.

The pirates were on board the French navy ship Jean Bart on Sunday, heading towards Djibouti.

The 30-strong crew were on a French helicopter carrier off Somalia and were due to be flown around noon to a French military base in Djibouti before traveling on to France, the military said Sunday.

It was not clear if the non-French members of the crew of the Ponant -- which includes six Filipinos, a Ukrainian and a Cameroonian -- would also travel to Paris.

The ex-hostages, who were expected in the French capital around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) Monday, underwent medical and psychological check-ups after their release following a week as hostages.

Military officials said they had no information yet as to when or if the six captors would be sent to Paris. The French foreign ministry has said it would like to see them brought to France for trial.

Sources spoke of a number of legal problems.

Defense Minister Herve Morin said that "a legal analysis" was ongoing but added that there did "not seem to be legal obstacles, especially as (France got) authorization from Somali authorities to carry out this operation."

Owned by French charter company CMA-CGM, Le Ponant was en route to the Mediterranean from the Seychelles when pirates boarded the vessel on April 4.

The crew "used the fire hoses to try and repel the assault," Marchesseau said, but the pirates "arrived very quickly" and started firing before storming the vessel. Later the captain managed secretly to contact authorities.

The 32-cabin vessel used for luxury cruises had anchored off Puntland, a breakaway northern region of Somalia, with a French navy ship in attendance while negotiations with the pirates took place.

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