Two Men Convicted of Assisting Somali Pirates in Kidnapping US Journalist for Ransom
(MENAFN) Two men have been found guilty of aiding Somali pirates who kidnapped and held captive a German-American journalist, Michael Scott Moore, for two and a half years in Galkayo, Somalia. Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed, a Somali army officer, and Abdi Yusuf Hassan, the Minister of Interior and Security for the province where Moore was held hostage, were convicted by a New York federal court jury on Feb. 24 of charges including hostage-taking, conspiracy, and providing material support for acts of terrorism. The charges carry potential life sentences.
Moore was abducted in January 2012 while working as a freelancer for the German publication Spiegel Online and researching a book about piracy. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of USD20 million, and at one point, released a video of Moore surrounded by masked kidnappers who pointed machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade at him. Moore's family eventually raised USD1.6 million for his release, and he was freed in September 2014.
According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, Tahlil left his army post to take command of the pirates holding Moore captive and obtained the weapons used to threaten and hold Moore. On the other hand, Hassan abused his government position and led the pirates' efforts to extort a massive ransom from Moore's mother. Hassan, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mogadishu, was arrested in Minneapolis in 2019 and charged with federal crimes.
In his 2018 book about his captivity, Moore stated that Tahlil contacted him on Facebook two months after his release and included a photograph. Moore recognized him as the "boss" of his guards, and they started corresponding. Tahlil reportedly informed Moore that some pirates were killed in a dispute over the division of his ransom.
The defendants' attorneys were contacted by The Associated Press for comment after hours on Monday, but they did not immediately respond. Hassan and Tahlil are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 6.
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