Somali pirates tell French police of sea militia and shair their 'code of conduct'

[N.O.R.F]

PARIS (Reuters) - Six Somali men involved in capturing a French yacht and holding its 30 crew hostage have said they were part of a maritime militia group with a written code of conduct, a French judicial source said on Thursday.

 

The men were captured in the Somali desert by French troops on Friday after holding the yacht and its crew off Somalia for a week and fleeing with part of the ransom, which was recovered. They were flown to France this week to face trial.

 

The yacht's captain told investigators the ransom paid was $2 million. But the half-dozen men are just part of a larger group of pirates that carried out the hostage-taking and they only had about $200,000, or 10 percent of that amount, on them.

 

"The chance of identifying them (the others) is relatively small," the judicial source said on condition of anonymity.

 

The men said their militia group was based in the village of Garaad-Ade in the northern province of Puntland, and police found their manual of good conduct on board the luxury yacht.

 

Piracy is lucrative in the waters off lawless Somalia's coast and most kidnappers treat their captives well in anticipation of a good ransom.

 

The manual banned mistreatment of hostages, notably sexual abuse, the judicial source said.

 

"That shows that it is an organized activity," he added.

 

According to their initial statements to police, two of the men took part in the April 4 raid on the yacht, three others were part of the armed guard that watched over the hostages, and one was their driver when they returned to land.

 

The men, aged between 25 and 40, are suspected of "boat hijacking, kidnapping and confinement in an organized gang with ransom payment" which carries a maximum life sentence.

 

They are due to be brought before a judge to be placed under formal investigation on Sunday.

 

Prime Minister Francois Fillon told parliament on Monday France was waiting for permission from Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf to bring the men to France for trial.

 

French officials now say no such permission has been formally granted but they argue that France has jurisdiction to try the men because they are suspected of committing a crime against French citizens.

 

Of the 30 crew held hostage, all of whom were released unharmed and flown back to France on Monday, 22 are French.

 

Weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur said some of the hostages may actually have been tourists on a cruise who were passed off as crew to avoid inflating the ransom, but the Defence Ministry avoided commenting on the article.

 

"I have no information on that," armed forces spokesman Christophe Prazuck told a news conference.

 

(Additional reporting by Brian Rohan, writing by Francois Murphy)

 

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