Ten Somalis arrested by the US navy have been flown to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, where they are to be charged. Kenyan sailors, taken hostage on a ship carrying UN food aid to Somalia, have reportedly identified some of the men. | What's the penalty in Kenya for piracy? |
| Good thinking by the crew. |
Piracy, including hijackings and hostage-taking, has become common off anarchic Somalia. An attack late last year against a luxury cruise liner was repelled by an ear-splitting acoustic device. Shipping companies say there have been 35 incidents of piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia in the past nine months. The transitional Somali government has signed a $50m (£28m) two-year deal with a private US marine security company to carry out coastal patrols. However, it is not clear where this money would come from, as the government has not effectively taken office. The security company has not started work.
Meanwhile, three more Taiwanese fishing boats seized by pirates off the Somali coast have been freed, officials say. Somali waters are the world's most dangerous for pirate attacks, according to international shipping groups. There has been no government for 15 years.