The Los Angeles
Times reports that "the U.S. Navy summoned the FBI for advice on how to rescue the cargo-ship captain held hostage by the hijackers" in a story carried based in part on AP reporting. The
Times repeated in the text that "The FBI was summoned" to help the Navy plan a hostage capture. There was no mention of the FBI assisting with
hostage negotiations, as might be expected. Meanwhile, retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold cautioned other merchant seamen that "We don't want to have a crew of Rambos" in any future pirate boardings. (
LA Times, 04/09/09)
In what appears to be the AP source article for LA
Times reporting, AP reports that the FBI was brought in to "Resolve the incident without military force." More ambiguously, it reports:
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the bureau's hostage negotiating team is "fully engaged" with the military in strategizing ways to retrieve the ship's captain and secure the Maersk Alabama and its roughly 20-person U.S. crew.
(Emphasis added) (
AP, 04/09/09)
