Pirate Boat Drifts Toward Coast

Stalled talks to continue after a day
By Amelia Atlas,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 12, 2009 6:17 AM CDT
Pirate Boat Drifts Toward Coast
The ship Maersk Alabama docks at port in Mombasa, Kenya, Saturday, April 11, 2009. The American ship reached Mombasa Saturday evening without their captain, who is still held hostage by Somali pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of miles from shore. The U.S.-flagged ship was attacked by Somali pirates firing...   (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

The lifeboat carrying American captain Richard Phillips has drifted within 20 miles of the Somali coast, where US military officials fear the pirates might escape with their hostage, reports Reuters. US warships continue to track the craft, as negotiations with the pirates over Phillips have been postponed by one day, Bloomberg reports.

The talks initially broke down after US officials insisted on the arrest of the pirates, postponing a deal that now stands to trade the pirates' freedom and a "small" ransom for the captain. But the process has proceeded haltingly because, as one pirate said, “each group suspects the other" will renege.

(More Somalia stories.)

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