NY prosecutors bring new piracy charges against Somali teen, say he attacked 2 other ships

NY prosecutors file more charges in piracy case

NEW YORK — A Somali man charged with piracy has pleaded not guilty to new charges he led the capture of two other vessels in the Indian Ocean.

A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday in Manhattan accuses Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse (AHB’-dih-wah-lee AHB’-dih-kah-dihr moo-SAY’) and others of boarding the two vessels and holding the crews at gunpoint in March and April. Authorities won’t identify the ships, but say one is still being held hostage.

Prosecutors say that shortly after those attacks, the men seized the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama.

An earlier indictment accused Muse of being the first pirate to board that ship off the coast of Somalia. Prosecutors say he and the others held the captain hostage until Navy sharpshooters killed three other suspects.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Somali teenager accused of staging a brazen high-seas attack on a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Africa last year is facing new allegations of piracy involving two other vessels, including one authorities say is still being held hostage.

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse and others tried to seize the two ships in the Indian Ocean in the weeks leading up to their widely publicized capture of the Maersk Alabama, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.

The new court papers, which didn’t name the other ships, say Muse threatened to kill the crew of the first vessel with “what appeared to an improvised explosive device” after its capture in March. They say that the pirates used the first ship to seize the second one in April, and that “at present time, the captain and crew of Ship-2 continue to be held on board.”

Tne new indictment” alleges criminal conduct beyond the attack against the captain and crew of the American-flagged Maersk Alabama,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Modern-day pirates who wreak havoc off faraway coasts will be met with modern-day justice in the United States.”

There was no immediate response to a phone message left with Muse’s attorney. He was due in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing on the original charge.

Muse has been jailed in Manhattan since he was captured April 12 and flown to the United States to face what’s believed to be the first U.S. piracy prosecution in more than a century. He has pleaded not guilty to piracy under the law of nations, hostage-taking and other charges.

U.S. prosecutors have branded Muse the ringleader of a band of four pirates who provoked a deadly drama by targeting the Maersk Alabama on April 8 as it transported humanitarian supplies about 280 miles off the coast of Somalia.

A criminal complaint said Muse was the first to board the boat, firing his AK-47 assault rifle at the captain, Richard Phillips. He entered the bridge, told the captain to stop the ship and “conducted himself as the leader of the pirates,” the complaint said.

The four pirates held Phillips, of Underhill, Vt., hostage for several days on a sweltering, enclosed lifeboat that was soon shadowed by three U.S. warships and a helicopter. The standoff ended when Navy snipers fatally shot three of the pirates.

Muse’s age has been in dispute since the start of the case. In April, his lawyers insisted he was 15 and should be tried as a juvenile. Prosecutors convinced a judge he was at least 18.