U.S vs Somali Pirates - Breaking news updates

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - As per breaking news updates, Somali pirates holding an American on a drifting lifeboat vowed on Friday to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces and reportedly recaptured their hostage when he jumped overboard to escape.

Ship captain Richard Phillips leapt into the sea, but was quickly brought back, U.S. media said, citing defense sources.

"We are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told esolgsmnews by satellite phone on behalf of the gang holding Phillips far off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.

"We will defend ourselves if attacked."

Despite their defiant talk, maritime groups tracking the saga -- the first time Somali pirates have captured an American -- say a more likely outcome is a negotiated solution, possibly involving safe passage in exchange for their captive.

The gang is also seeking a ransom, friends say.

Four pirates have been holding Phillips, a former Boston taxi driver, since Wednesday after a foiled bid to hijack the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama several hundred miles off Somalia.

The ship's lifeboat has run out of fuel.

Two boats full of heavily-armed fellow pirates have taken to sea in solidarity with the four on the lifeboat, but are too nervous to come near due to the presence of foreign naval ships including the USS Bainbridge destroyer which is up close.

"Other pirates want to come and help their friends, but that would be like sentencing themselves to death," said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program that monitors the region's seas.

"They will release the captain, I think, maybe today or tomorrow, but in exchange for something. Maybe some payment or compensation, and definitely free passage back home."

Phillips is one of about 270 hostages being held at the moment by Somali pirates, who have been plying the busy sea-lanes of the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for years.

They are keeping 18 captured vessels at or near lairs on the Somali coast -- five of them taken since the weekend alone.

Yet the fact Phillips is the first U.S. citizen seized, and the drama of his 20-man American crew stopping the Alabama being hijacked on Wednesday, has galvanized world attention.

It has also given President Barack Obama another foreign policy problem in a place most Americans would rather forget.