Cuba pledges to spare hijackers, diplomats say

[Mika]

Cuba pledges to spare hijackers, diplomats say
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-pahijack19jul19,0,6262972.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

The Cuban government has informed American diplomats that the individuals who allegedly hijacked a boat from the island, now being held on a Coast Guard cutter off the Florida coast, would not be executed if returned to Cuba, a State Department official said Friday.

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Judy Orihuela, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Miami, said agents were investigating "some sort of problem" that may have occurred when the Coast Guard boarded the boat. She would not elaborate.
Another State Department official confirmed the United States and Cuba have talked about the incident, but would not give details of the discussions.
A Cuban official in Havana said the April hijacking involved violence and threats. That does not appear to be the case in this week's situation, the official said. But the official would not speculate on how those differences might affect any prosecution that takes place in Cuba.

Hmmm.. "some sort of problem"?

This article says,

U.S. officials mull fate of boat hijack suspects
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6337550.htm

The strange journey of the Gaviota 16 began early Tuesday under cover of darkness on Cuba's northeastern coast when a group of men surprised three guards watching the boat.
They managed to grab an AK-47 from the men, then tied them up, placed hoods over their heads and stashed them in a cabin, according to U.S. officials familiar with the incident.

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When <US Coast Guard>officers boarded the vessel, they were met by passengers waving knives and homemade weapons. Several officers used pepper spray after one Cuban man lunged toward an officer with a weapon. Then the alleged hijackers drafted more unusual armaments: four fire extinguishers, the contents of which were emptied like shaken seltzer bottles. During the melee at sea, one hijacker also allegedly grabbed a radio from an officer and began hitting him with it.

Is the US going to, again, grant asylum to violent hijackers who have already attacked US law enforcement officials, in addition to violating international piracy laws?