Dead sailor's father praises 'courageous' commando raid

The father of the yacht skipper killed in a gun battle between Somali pirates and French commandoes thanked the French government last night for trying to rescue his son.

Francis Lemaçon said that he was "paralysed by grief" at the death of his "pacifist and idealist" son but he wanted to thank the French state and the "courageous" commandoes for their efforts. As four survivors, including the victim's wife and small son, returned to France yesterday, the consensus of the media and security experts was that President Nicolas Sarkozy was justified in ordering the attack on the hijacked yacht last Friday.

France has ordered a judicial investigation into the death of Florent Lemaçon, the owner of the yacht 'Tanit', in a shoot-out between eight commandoes and five pirates.

The captain of the French frigate which led the operation said that France had intercepted radio messages in which the pirates told allies they were ready to execute the hostages and blow up the yacht. Captain Guillaume Goutay said that his men were torn between "grief" at the death of M. Lemaçon and "relief" that four others had been rescued.

The French Defence Minister, Hervé Morin, has said that M. Lemaçon may have been struck accidentally by a French bullet. One account suggested that he had thrown himself in front of his wife, Chloe, and son when the commandoes and pirates exchanged fire.

Two pirates were killed and three were captured. They will be taken to France, where a dozen Somalis captured during two similar operations last year are already awaiting trial.

"A pacifist with a profound sense of morality is dead," the skipper's father said in a written statement issued yesterday. "Florent and his wife ... chose to fight in their own way for peace, the environment and tolerance."