Pirate killed, six captured as French troops free couple

FRENCH troops stormed a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates, killing one, capturing six and freeing their two French hostages in a raid that France’s president said yesterday was a warning to criminals on the high seas.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said the overnight military assault that freed Jean-Yves and Bernadette Delanne — the second such French operation in five months — was a demonstration of France’s “unbending determination against piracy”.“

“The pirates now know that they are taking risks —, big risks,”“ Sarkozy said.

The Delanne couple, from French Polynesia, were sailing a friend’’s boat from Australia to France when they were captured on September 2 by pirates lying in wait in the Gulf of Aden.

About 30 French soldiers took part in what Sarkozy called a meticulously planned assault.

The hostages were freed in 10 minutes and the soldiers were unhurt, he said.

Sarkozy said he ordered the rescue when it became clear that the pirates planned to take the hostages to Eyl, a Somali zone that serves as a base for many pirates. Freeing them would have been difficult had they got there.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden has “literally exploded” this year, Sarkozy said, adding that Somali pirates were currently holding 150 people and at least 15 ships.

The Gulf of Aden has been the scene of most of the 54 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year.

Sarkozy said France would take action in the U.N. Security Council to mobilise the international community against “this plague”.

Sarkozy said he intends to bring the six pirates to France, although Somalia could keep them if “we are certain that these pirates will be tried, sentenced and will serve out their punishments”.

The body of the slain pirate will be handed over to Somali authorities.

France has six other pirates in custody from a military French operation on April 11 that took place after pirates freed the 30-member crew of a pleasure yacht called the Ponant.

A $2 million (about €1.4m) ransom was apparently paid by the owner. Some of the money was recovered by French troops.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed to set up a special unit to co-ordinate warship patrols off the coast of Somalia to protect shipping from pirates.