Well, there seems to be some seriously confusing stories about what happened. Something semi-official about the amount of money on board more than the pirates were expecting so they (TFG/Airport guards/pirate contacts) got upset and the rest we know....
OR, version two the planes landed without a proper clearance and the TFG guards at the airport launched into this issue only to find they'd struck gold and 3.6Million US$$.
OR, version three, Phoenix flew in under UN clearance (which they'd done upto four times before this year apparently) and did their usual thing of money transfer across the apron, but someone in the 'know' wanted a larger share of things, so stirred it up officially.
Now the TFG government have a publicity situation on their hands - is it good, and they can be seen to be doing something legal about stopping the ransom trade (as they don't agree to it like the rest of the world), or its a publicity shot in the foot, because they now have 6 western hostages, no legal framework for dealing with them, 3.6M in the bank and 6M of aircraft on their apron. What a dilemma.
In the meantime, there are six guys stuck in limbo between being officially recognised and diplomatically hung out to dry. They were supposed to appear in court yesterday but haven't heard anything about it recently. Anyone else know what's happening to these poor mugs...???
