Highest-ranking convicted Somali Muslim pirate loses appeal to overturn his sentence for killing 4 American tourists

Mohammad Saaili Shibin

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A panel of federal judges on Friday upheld the criminal conviction of the highest-ranking pirate caught by the U.S. government.

The three judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in the case of Mohammad Saaili Shibin, who has been sentenced to 12 life terms for his pivotal role in two hijackings, which included the slaying of four Americans on their yacht off Somalia.

Shibin was a multilingual negotiator based in lawless Somalia. He worked his cellphone to negotiate multimillion-dollar ransoms for ships that dared to venture into pirate-infested international waters off Africa. He was captured in Somalia.

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