FRANCE WARNS IT WILL NOT TOLERATE PIRACY AFTER HOSTAGES FREED
PARIS, April 12, 2008 (AFP) - France's defence minister warned Saturday Paris would not tolerate extortion attempts, after French military secured the release of 30 hostages from a luxury boat off Somalia and seized half a dozen pirates.
"This is the first time a country has decided not to let itself be extorted, but also to take matters into its own hands," Herve Morin said on RTL radio, praising French special forces for apprehending the hostage-takers.
He spoke a day after pirates released the 30 crew members of the three-masted yacht Le Ponant, who were taken hostage last week. The operation also saw six hostage-takers arrested in a dramatic raid as they attempted to escape in a 4x4, French officials said.
A source close to the negotiations with the pirates said the boat owner paid some two million dollars (1.3 million euros) to free the hostages, and that a portion of the money was recovered when the six pirates were detained -- with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirming the recovery.
On Friday, the French chief of the general staff, General Jean-Louis Georgelin, said no "public money" had been paid to the kidnappers.
Morin added that President Nicolas Sarkozy had ordered that, if possible, the abductors be captured alive.
http://www.ttc.org/200804121606.m3cg6tm04502.htm
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asi...fight_pirates/
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...201/REALESTATE