NEWS: Update; Freighter Allegedly Hijacked by Haitians Off South Florida, Still Being Investigated

Feb 26, 2004
No additional details of the incident are being released at this time. Federal Authorities are currently still investigating the incident aboard the freighter and are interviewing the Haitians onboard

www.miami.com...
The federal authorities would not say if the Haitians had asked for political asylum or if they would be repatriated to their country, which is in the midst of a violent uprising.
They also would not confirm or deny the freighter captain's claim that the ship had been hijacked by 17 of the Haitians, who identified themselves as police officers and government officials.

Feb, 25, 2004
The Coast Guard is preparing to board a cargo ship that was hijacked from Haiti sometime in the last 48 hours. The Captain and crew forced to come to the US. There are 17 people aboard. The ship is currently in Florida waters, five miles off the coast of Miami Beach. It is reported that the individuals onboard are Haitian officials and police officers. The Department of Homeland Security is also involved in the current investigation.

www.local10.com...
Two Coast Guard boats and a helicopter have responded to reports that the 250-foot freighter was taken over by 17 or more men, some of whom were reportedly armed. There was no word has to what kind of weapons those on board are using.
The freighter Margot was about 8 miles east of Government Cut when the Coast Guard was made aware of the possibility of a hijacking.
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www.miami.com...


[Edited on 2-26-2004 by worldwatcher]

UPDATE: Haitian Officials and police officers reportedly among the 17 onboard.

I wonder why CNN or no one else has reported on this yet.

don't know, it's on all the local south florida news channels and FoxTV did a little blurb on it too.

Maybe now we'll start paying attention to this situation on Haiti.

In a statement made today, Bush said the United States has an "effective strategy" in place to deal with any exodus of Haitians toward the United States. This of course was prior to reported hijacked freighter.

"We will turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our shore, and that message needs to be very clear as well to the Haitian people," Bush said.

so I think we know what will happen, however it is interesting that these 17 individuals are reportedly Haitian officials and policemen. It is also interesting to see how our policies will be applied in these situations.

[Edited on 2-25-2004 by worldwatcher]

Update:
No additional details of the incident are being released at this time. Federal Authorities are currently still investigating the incident aboard the freighter and are interviewing the Haitians onboard.

See story above for more details.