Blood wins out over Treasure in pirate stand-off

After talks with Somali leaders in Puntland broke down earlier today over the issue of arresting the pirates, the AP is reporting that:

An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, the ship's owner said. A senior U.S. intelligence official said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Capt. Richard Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat was in custody.