Somali pirates vow to hunt down U.S. ships and kill sailors..

A pirate gang that staged an abortive attack on a second U.S. ship loaded with food aid said Wednesday they were singling out American vessels and would kill their crews. French forces detained 11 other hijackers in a high-seas raid...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

‘3 rounds, 3 dead bodies’

As dusk began to fall Sunday, the Somali pirates holding captain Richard Phillips had grown edgy.

As they bobbed in the ocean near the USS Bainbridge, a Navy destroyer sent to rescue Phillips, the teenage pirates were experiencing withdrawal after days without khat, a mildly narcotic leaf chewed in for its stimulant effects.

"They were realizing they were in a no-win situation," said a senior U.S. military official. "They were floating around in rough waters, they were tired. . . . These guys didn't have their chew with them."

Source: www.msnbc.com

PIRATES: "We are not afraid of the Americans..."

U.S. warships were in the area around the pirates' lifeboat and a U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said crew members from one of the warships, the destroyer USS Bainbridge, were able on Friday to see Phillips from a distance of several hundred yards (metres) moving and talking aboard the life boat after his failed escape.

Phillips is one of about 270 hostages being held by Somali pirates preying on the busy sea-lanes of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Source: www.reuters.com