A Somali court has sentenced nine pirates to three years each in prison. The pirates were captured on their speed boats by French navy forces in the Gulf of Aden last October.

One of them has since escaped from jail, but was sentenced in absentia. He will face more charges if recaptured.

A picture released by the French army shows French soldiers arriving to negotiate with pirates the release of the hostages on April 10 off the Somalian coast near the boat, the Tanit, that was seized by Somali pirates on April 4. Chloe Lemacon, her three-year-old son Colin and two friends touched down at a military airport near Paris after they were freed by French commandos Friday.

(CCTV April 13, 2009)