Va. jury deliberating if 5 Somalis were pirates

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Jurors in Virginia are deliberating in the trial of five Somali men charged with piracy and accused of attacking a U.S. Navy ship of the coast of Africa.

Deliberations began this morning in the first piracy case to go to trial in the U.S. since the Civil War.

The jury heard more than four hours of closing arguments Monday. Prosecutors say the men launched a violent attack on the crew of the USS Nicholas on April 1 after they thought it was a merchant ship. The government says the men shot AK-47s at the ship and were armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but did not fire it.

Defense attorneys say the five were fishermen who attacked the ship after they were beaten and threatened by pirates.