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CAIRO,
February 11, 2009 — The U.S. Navy has seized seven suspected pirates in
the Gulf of Aden after a merchant ship sent a distress call saying
gunmen had tried to board it from a skiff.
Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet,
says the Marshal Islands-flagged Polaris sent the call on Wednesday
afternoon.
The USS Vella Gulf raced to the location where U.S. sailors boarded the
skiff.
Christensen says the suspects were armed with AK-47s and RPGs. They will
eventually be handed over to Kenya.
It was the Navy's first arrest since a new U.S. anti-pirate task force
was established to deal with the escalating piracy problem in the Gulf.
It also follows an agreement last month with Kenya for the U.S. to hand
over arrested pirates.
Source: AP
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