South Korea to deal with Somali pirates

Five suspected Somali pirates captured when a hijacked ship was rescued were brought to South Korea Sunday and formally arrested amid growing legal efforts around the world to deal with the problem.

The suspects, seized on January 21 during a South Korean naval raid on the freighter Samho Jewelry, arrived on a special flight and were sent to the southern port city of Busan, a Korea Coast Guard spokesman said.

In a case likely to be closely watched by other countries tackling piracy, South Korean maritime police have formed a special team of 50 officials to deal with the country's first legal attempt to punish foreign pirates.

The five were officially arrested for suspected maritime robbery, attempted murder and ship hijacking, the spokesman told AFP.

"We will carry out investigations for 10 days to collect all necessary evidence from the suspects, currently being detained in Busan," he said.

"We are pushing the case by reviewing precedents in countries that have taken similar legal actions against pirates," he said without elaborating further.

Countries including Germany and Spain have recently taken steps to try suspected Somali pirates in their own courts.

Piracy has surged in recent years off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits astride one of the world's most important shipping routes, leading to the Suez Canal.

International warships patrol the area trying to clamp down on the problem, and some 780 suspected pirates are currently being held in 13 countries.

But the vast majority of pirates caught at sea by the international fleet are freed almost straight away because there is nowhere to try them.

The captain of the Samho Jewelry, a 15,500-tonne chemical freighter hijacked on January 15, is in critical condition after being shot three times by pirates during the South Korean rescue mission.

Seok Hae-Kyun, 58, underwent two rounds of surgery at a hospital in Oman and was flown home Saturday before another operation on Sunday to remove remaining bullets and treat gunshot wounds.

Eight pirates were killed during the raid on January 21, while all 21 crew were rescued -- eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 from Myanmar.

"The investigations will take place in Busan since the hijacking took place in international waters and both the hijacked ship and the wounded captain were based in this city," Kim Chung-Kyu, the coastguard's Busan office chief, told reporters.

The suspects were questioned by prosecutors in the presence of state-appointed lawyers, a lengthy process that involved translations between Somali, English and Korean, Yonhap news agency said.

The suspects, known to be aged 19 or in their 20s, denied the charges, saying they only acted on the orders of their boss and did not shoot the captain, Yonhap said, citing their lawyers.

Under South Korean law the pirates face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of shooting the Samho Jewelry's captain. They could face death sentences if he were to die.

Since 2008 Somali pirates have captured nearly 2,000 people and been paid ransoms of up to $9.5 million for seized vessels. As of December 31, 612 people and 26 ships were still being held, according to UN figures.

Former French minister Jack Lang, in a report submitted to the UN Security Council Tuesday, suggested establishing a court under Somali jurisdiction but based in a foreign country to try the hundreds of Somali pirates held in prisons around the world