Captured pirate arrives in US

The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain arrived in New York today, smiling for a gaggle of cameras and reporters as US federal agents led him into custody to face charges in the attack.

Abduhl Wali-i-Musi was handcuffed and had a chain wrapped around his waist. His left hand was heavily bandaged from the wound he suffered during the skirmish on the ship two weeks ago.

The smiling teenager seemed poised as he entered a federal building in a rainstorm, but he did not say anything in response to reporters’ shouted questions about whether he had any comment about the pirate episode.

Wali-i-Musi is the first person to be tried in the United States on piracy charges in more than a century.

He was flown from Africa to a New York airport and taken into custody ahead of a court hearing.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case said the teenager was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking.

The teenager’s arrival came on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release. She says her son was coaxed into piracy by “gangsters with money”.

“I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager. I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial,” Adar Abdirahman Hassan said in a telephone interview from her home in the Somali town of Galka’yoia.

The age and real name of the young pirate remained unclear. The mother said he is only 16 years old and is named Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse.

The law enforcement official said he is at least 18, meaning prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to put him on trial in a US court.

The suspect was taken aboard a US Navy ship shortly before Navy SEAL snipers on the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge killed three of his colleagues who had held Captain Richard Phillips hostage.