A man accused of negotiating the ransom for four US citizens killed during a high seas hijacking of a yacht by Somali pirates was charged Thursday for his role in another hostage ordeal. Mohammad Saaili Shibin, 50, was previously indicted in March by a federal grand jury in Virginia on piracy, kidnapping and weapons charges for the role he allegedly played in the February pirating of the American yacht Quest off the coast of Africa.
Shibin was among 15 individuals - 14 from Somalia and one from Yemen - arrested in connection with that plot. In the latest, superseding indictment, US Attorney Neil MacBride alleged that Shibin also participated in securing a maximum ransom - estimated at $5.5 million - for the release of the cargo ship Marida Marguerite and its 22 crew members. The German-owned chemical tanker had been held off the coast of Somalia from May to December 2010.
A federal grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia indicted Shibin on 15 counts of piracy, hostage-taking, kidnapping and weapons offenses, including six charges linked to the Marida Marguerite ransom and six new charges related to the S/V Quest hijacking. Some of the charges carried mandatory life sentences.
Shibin received $30,000 to $50,000 as his share of the Marida Marguerite ransom payment, according to the indictment. "The role he's accused of fulfilling for pirates on the Marida Marguerite is the same role he allegedly intended to fill for the Quest," MacBride said. "This case is aimed at the heart of the piracy business, striking at the small group of men who make receiving millions from piracy a reality."
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk vowed to apprehend "all those involved" and noted that "the negotiator has the most important job in the piracy business, extorting the most money possible for the ship and crew." The owners of the Quest yacht, Jean and Scott Adam, were Christian missionaries based in California who were sailing around the world at the time of the hijacking.
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