Up Pompei

The first Somali to be tried for piracy in Belgium has denied all involvement in the 2009 hijacking of a Belgian frigate eventually released after payment of ransom.

“I was never on board the Pompei”, Omar Mohammed Abdiwahad, described as being “around 18 years old” told a Brussels court.

He was captured in November 2010 off the Kenya coast while attacking a World Food Programme (WFP) vessel.