Somali pirates released by Russian forces confirmed dead
16:54, 11 May 2010
ASTANA. May 11. KAZINFORM The Somali embassy in Moscow on Tuesday confirmed the death of 10 pirates released at sea last week by Russian forces off the coast of the Horn of Africa country, Kazinform refers to Trend News.
Earlier, an official from Russia's Defence Ministry told journalists that the men were presumed dead since their boat had not reached the shore.
Russian forces had captured the pirates last week in an operation to rescue the tanker Moskovsky Universitet, which was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
But the pirates were released on Friday and put in one of their own boats, without weapons or navigation equipment, 300 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, after Russia said there were no international guidelines for prosecuting the men, Kazinform cites Trend News. See www.en.trend.az