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Yemen Court Sentences Somali Pirates to Death

   VOA News 18 May 2010

   A  court  in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, has sentenced six Somali pirates
   to death and six more to 10 years in jail for hijacking a Yemeni ship.
   The  verdict  on  Tuesday  convicts the 12 Somalis of killing two crew
   members  and wounding four others while trying to seize the oil tanker
   off the coast of the seaport city of Aden.
   The incident occurred in April last year.
   Piracy  is  a  major  problem off the coast of Somalia, where gangs of
   pirates have hijacked dozens of ships in the past few years.
   International  naval  patrols  have  largely not been able to stop the
   attacks.
   Furthermore,  many  captured  pirates  have  been  released because no
   country would prosecute them.  Kenya has conducted some pirate trials
   but recently said its justice system is overburdened.

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   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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