Somali pirates kill 4 American hostages

Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya

A U.S. Navy destroyer was shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard when a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade, followed by bursts of gunfire. U.S. special forces scrambled onto the occupied vessel only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.

The yachting enthusiasts from California and Washington killed off the coast of East Africa on Tuesday were the first Americans slain by Somali pirates since a wave of attacks began six years ago. One of the American couples had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles.

The deaths of the four travelers, all in their late 50s or 60s, appeared to underscore an increasingly brutal and aggressive shift by pirates in their treatment of hostages.

Killing hostages “has now become part of our rules,” said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi. He referred as a turning point to last week’s sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama — just two days before the hijacking.

“From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies,” Abdi said. “It will never, ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly condemned the killing of the Americans as “deplorable,” saying in a statement the slayings underscored the need for international cooperation in fighting the scourge of piracy in waters off the Horn of Africa.

Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, near Los Angeles, had been sailing their 58-foot yacht Quest around the world since December 2004, and had been joined in recent months by Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.

Fifteen pirates were taken into custody, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain.