A French yachtsman taken hostage by Somali pirates was shot and killed by French special forces during a rescue operation last month and not by his captors, Europe 1 radio reported on Monday.
French troops stormed the Tanit sailing yacht on April 10 and captured three Somali pirates in a bid to free Florent Lemacon, his wife, their three-year-old son and two friends.
Lemacon, 28, was hit by a bullet during the assault but French prosecutors said it was unclear whether he was shot accidentally by French forces or executed by his captors. Two other pirates were killed during the operation.
Europe 1 said Lemacon was shot while trying to shield his son and wife.
”This was a reflex gesture that triggered another reflex, to open fire, and he collapsed in his wife’s arms,” said the radio report, which did not identify its sources.
The bullet that killed Lemacon has not been found but it pierced his hand before hitting him in the face, according to Europe 1.
French special forces decided to launch the rescue after eavesdropping on the pirates showed they were ”becoming nervous and talked about making an example out of the hostages” with drastic action.
The report said the special forces stormed the Tanit’s cabin where two pirates were holding the five hostages since April 6.
French prosecutors said last month that they were unable to conclude who fired the shot following an investigation.
Defence Minister Herve Morin said after Lemacon’s death he did not rule out that he may have been the victim of a French bullet and pledged to ”tell the truth” about what happened after the investigation had run its course.
Asked about the report, defence ministry spokesperson Laurent Teisseire declined to comment, saying the incident was still under investigation.
France has taken a tough line on pirates caught by its forces in the waters off East Africa, scene of a rash of recent attacks on shipping.
Somali pirates hijack bulk carrier
Somali pirates hijacked a bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, marking their first successful attack in almost a week, a maritime watchdog and pirate commanders said.
Andrew Mwangura, of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, confirmed the hijacking overnight of the MV Ariana, a large bulk carrier.
He had initially said the ship was British-owned but later said it emerged the vessel had Greek owners and a British agent.
”The crew of 24 is entirely Ukrainian, we believe they are safe,” he said. ”It was coming from Brazil and headed to the Middle East.”
According to an agent for the owners, the ship was believed to be carrying 35 000 tonnes of soya.
Meanwhile pirates in Haradhere, one of the main bases for the ransom-hunting bandits who have been plying the Indian Ocean, said their group had seized another ship late on Friday.
”Our boys have captured two ships. One of them is carrying vehicles,” said a pirate who asked to be named only Hassan.
Another commander speaking on condition of anonymity from Haradhere confirmed that two ships had been hijacked but there was some confusion on their flag countries and cargo.
The last time Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian ship, it was carrying 33 Soviet-type battle tanks.
The MV Faina’s hijacking was one of the longest since Somali piracy surged in 2007. The vessel and its crew were freed in February after a 134-day hostage crisis.
Maritime watchdogs and foreign navies could not immediately confirm the second hijacking.
If they are both confirmed, the latest hijackings would bring to at least 18 the number of ships currently held by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
April saw a surge in attacks owing largely to favourable weather conditions for the pirates, whose ability to board vessels is diminished during the monsoon seasons.
Experts say there is still a high-risk window of a few days in May before the seas start getting rougher.
Naval ships from the European Union, Nato and other United States-led coalitions have thwarted several attacks in recent days, either preventing hijackings or capturing suspected pirates.
In recent weeks, foreign navies have apprehended dozens of pirates. Most of them have been either transferred to Kenya for prosecution or released for lack of evidence and legal backing.
Commander Chris Davis, from the control centre for the Nato mission protecting merchant ships off Somalia, said the Portuguese frigate Corte Real launched a helicopter on Friday after being informed of an attack on the tanker, the Bahamas-flagged Kition.
The helicopter pursued the pirates back to their mother ship, a fishing boat which was later boarded and weapons including grenade-launchers and explosives were seized, Davis said.
However a Portuguese officer with the Nato force in the Gulf of Aden, Santos Ferreira, told TSF radio that the 19 pirates captured had been released ”after contact was made with Somali national authorities”.
Davis said in another incident on Thursday a Turkish vessel, the Christina A, was attacked by pirates in two boats off the Kenyan port of Mombasa, but managed to shake them off by increasing speed
to 20 knots.
About 20 foreign warships patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia — on one of the globe’s busiest maritime trade routes — on any given day.
But the area is huge and pirates have adapted their tactics to hunt for vessels several hundred nautical miles into the Indian Ocean, further away from the heavily patrolled shipping corridors of the Gulf of Aden. — Sapa-AFP