16 April 2008
   
DJIBOUTI - Six suspected pirates captured by French troops after the release of a yacht crew held hostage off the Somali coast were being transferred to Paris early Wednesday, an official close to defence minister Herve Morin said in Djibouti.

"They are flying to Paris where they should arrive in the morning," the official said.

The minister is on a brief visit to Djibouti to congratulate the French troops who arrested the six suspects after the crew of the yacht Le Ponant were freed.

The French foreign ministry said earlier it was waiting for permission from Somalia to put the six suspects on trial.

The six men were captured in Somalia Friday, shortly after they released 30 hostages -- 22 French, six Filipinos, a Cameroonian and a Ukrainian -- abducted a week earlier aboard the French luxury yacht Le Ponant.

Somali officials and witnesses said three people were killed during the French operation, but the military in Paris has denied any pirates were killed.

[AFP / Expatica]