Somali ‘pirates’ released after US backs down

A group of alleged Somali pirates captured by the US Navy in March have been freed and returned home to Somalia after the United States declined to prosecute them, a US official said on Tuesday. Ten of 12 suspected pirates detained on March 18 after firing on US warships in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast were handed over to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and repatriated at the weekend, they said.