Pirates Warn US Raid Would 'Create Disaster'

Somali pirates holding an American captain hostage in a lifeboat are hoping to transfer him to another pirate ship in the area to thwart rescue efforts like the French commando raid that freed some hostages, but left one dead, along with two pirates, AFP reports. "We are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did," the pirate commander told AFP,  warning that such a move would "create disaster."

But CNN reports that one of the pirate-held ships that had been searching for the lifeboat returned unsuccessfully to port today. Discouraged by the US Naval presence, the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger is now said to be back at the Somali port of Eyl. A regional maritime group, meanwhile, tells Reuters a group of Somali elders is on its way to meet the pirates and arrange a deal to give them safe passage but no ransom.
(More pirates stories.)