CAPTAIN FREED - AT 2:34 P.M. ET:  Other news organizations are now confirming that the American captain held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia has now been freed, and that three of his four captors have been killed.  From The New York Times:

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) -- An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, the ship's owner said.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Capt. Richard Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat was in custody.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.

COMMENT:  Pretty great, thanks to the U.S. Navy.  Ironically, Phillips comes from Vermont, which is represented by two of the most left-leaning members of the U.S. Senate - Patrick Leahy and the socialist Bernie Sanders.  I can almost see them ordering an investigation into whether the freeing of Captain Phillips offended the peace-loving pirate community.

April 12, 2009