NORFOLK, Va.--A former Somali police officer and an electrician whose job it was to bless their expedition were sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for their roles in the hijacking of a yacht that left all four Americans on board dead.
Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali was the commander of a band of 19 pirates that hijacked the 58-foot Quest in February several hundred miles south of Oman. The pirates intended to bring the Americans back to Somalia where a bilingual interpreter would negotiate a ransom payment.
But the owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death several days after being taken hostage.
It was the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in the pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years. The Americans were killed after U.S. warships started shadowing the Quest and negotiations between the Navy and the pirates broke down.
I guess we're being merciful since we decided not to execute the pirates. |