U.S. Navy rescues captain, kills Somali pirates

By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy shot dead three Somali pirates and rescued cargo ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday from a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia where he was being held captive, ending a five-day standoff.

Phillips' life was in danger when Navy snipers aboard a nearby U.S. destroyer shot his Somali captors, freeing him unharmed and killing three of the four pirates who had held him

after trying to seize his vessel, the Navy said.

The fourth pirate was in custody.

"I can tell you that he is free and that he is safe," said Navy Lieutenant Commander John Daniels.

A U.S. Navy commander made a split-second decision to fire on the pirates because he believed that Phillips, who tried to escape on Friday, faced imminent danger amid tense hostage talks with his captors and deteriorating sea conditions.

"They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain.

"The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision (to kill the pirates) and he had the authorities to make that decision and he had seconds to make that decision."

President Barack Obama granted the Pentagon's request for standing authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain, Gortney said.

The U.S. Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the rescue took place at 12:19 p.m. EDT (1619 GMT) and the lifeboat had drifted to about 20 miles from lawless Somalia's coast.

Phillips, captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship, had contacted his family, received a routine medical evaluation, and was resting comfortably aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer.

"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family," said Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart.

A smiling Phillips was shown in a picture released by the U.S. Navy after his rescue.

Phillips' crew set off flares, hoisted an American flag and jumped for joy at the news of their captain's rescue.

"We are very happy. He's a hero," one crew member of the Maersk Alabama shouted at journalists amid raucous celebrations on the deck of the vessel, docked in Kenya's Mombasa port.