Omar Jamal Gets Lawyer for Pirate

NEW YORK - Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, helped get a lawyer for the sole surviving Somali pirate from the Capt. Richard Phillips hostage situation.

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, 16, is expected to appear in a New York City courtroom Tuesday after being flown from Africa. The Somali teenager faces piracy and hostage-taking charges in the United States.

Muse's parents, who live in Africa, asked Omar Jamal to help acquire a lawyer for their son. Jamal says Muse does not speak English and is confused with the situation.

Monday, Muse's mother told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she was appealing to President Obama to pardon her son.

Jamal has also been acting as translator and negotiator for a Maplewood man, whose brother, a Nigerian captain, has been held hostage by Somali pirates for about eight months.

Last week, Jamal said he believes he's close to convincing the pirates to take the tugboat and set the crew free, granting them safe passage from the coastal city of Eyl, where they are being held, to neighboring Djibouti

The Somali pirates allowed Jeffrey Egbidi to speak with his brother, Capt. Graham Egbegi, as a show of good faith. But since the daring lifeboat rescue of Capt. Phillips, and the killing of three Somali pirates, there's also been fear of retaliation.