Eight suspected Somali pirates who were seized by British Royal Marine commandos in a high seas exchange of gunfire off Somalia last week have been handed over to the Kenyan police.
A statement from visiting British Minister for Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth in Nairobi said on Tuesday the suspects were captured after Plymouth-based HMS Cumberland and the Russian frigate Neustrashimy stopped an attempted raid on a Danish vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
Ainsworth said negotiations have been underway with the Kenyan authorities ever since the incident on Nov. 11 when commandos from the Royal Navy frigate, HMS Cumberland, confronted the pirates who had earlier tried to hijack a Danish cargo vessel, the MV Powerful.
Three pirates were killed after the Marines opened fire in self-defense when there was a burst of gunfire from a dhow which had been involved in the incident with the Danish vessel.
"I am pleased to announce that, earlier today Tuesday, the Royal Navy successfully completed a counter-piracy operation by handing over to the custody of the Kenyan Police eight suspected pirates interdicted on Nov. 11 during an incident at sea," he said.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank publicly the Kenyan government for its resolute action in agreeing to try the suspects in accordance with their and our legal obligations," added the British minister on the start of his three-day visiting to Kenya.
Source:Xinhua
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