Somali pirates claim to kill hostage

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali pirates who have been holding a hijacked ship for nearly two years killed a Syrian hostage crew member and wounded another to protest a delayed ransom payment, a pirate leader said.
This is believed to be the first time Somali pirates have killed a hostage because of a delay in ransom.

Hassan Abdi, a pirate commander in Haradhere town, a key pirate center, said that the killing on Wednesday was a message to the owners of the ship MV Orna, hijacked 400 miles northeast of the island nation of the Seychelles in December 2010.

“The killing was a message to the owners of the ship who paid no heed to our ransom demands,” Abdi said by telephone.

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Article courtesy of NBC News.