American held hostage by Somali pirates 'failed in escape bid'
The American sailor being held hostage by Somali pirates
managed to jump off the lifeboat where he is being held last night but was recaptured, it was reported today.
NBC news said Captain Richard Phillips tried to swim away before being taken back into the pirates' custody.
The escape bid was witnessed by the US navy but happened too quickly for them to come to his aid.
The report came as the
four pirate gunmen, who are stranded in the Indian Ocean, called in reinforcements and vowed to fight if they are attacked.
"The pirates have summoned assistance skiffs and
motherships are heading towards the area from the coast," a Nairobi-based diplomat told the Associated Press. "We knew they were gathering yesterday."
Mohamed Samaw, a Somali resident of the pirate stronghold in central Eyl town, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked on Monday, said
four foreign ships previously captured by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat.
General David Petraeus, the head of US central command, said
the US Navy was also sending more ships - including the guided-missile frigate USS Haliburton - to the area to "ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days".
However, despite an apparently hopeless position, the pirates show no signs of giving in.
"We are safe and we are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone. "We will defend ourselves if attacked."