15th indicted in piracy that killed 4 US yachters

NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) â€" A Somali man accused of acting as chief negotiator for pirates who took four Americans hostage and killed them in February is facing piracy, kidnapping and weapons charges, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Mohammad Saaili Shibin was scheduled to make a court appearance Wednesday in Norfolk to determine whether he'll remain in jail while awaiting trial. The U.S. Attorney's Office says he was apprehended in Somalia and arrived in the U.S. on Friday.

Thirteen Somalis and a man from Yemen pleaded not guilty last month to piracy, kidnapping and firearms charges related to the same hijacking. Their trial is scheduled for Nov. 29.

The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay, were shot to death after they were taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman.

The indictment says Shibin was the one who researched the four on the Internet to determine how much of a ransom to seek and to identify family members they should contact for ransom.

Pirates have increased attacks off the coast of East Africa despite an international flotilla of warships dedicated to stopping the pirate assaults.

U.S. naval forces were tracking the Americans' captured yacht with unmanned aerial vehicles and four warships, and negotiations were under way when the pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade.

Special forces boarded the vessel and found the Americans had been shot, according to the military. Pirates have blamed the deaths of the American hostages on the U.S. Navy, saying the pirates felt under attack.

It was the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in the pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years. The pirates are typically motivated by the potential for millions of dollars in ransom money.

The Adams, who were retired, had been sailing full-time on their 58-foot (18-meter) yacht and delivering Bibles around the world. The indictment accuses at least three of the indicted men of shooting and killing the four Americans without provocation.