Retired admiral denies writing e-mail

PENSACOLA, Fla., April 21 (UPI) -- A retired U.S. Navy admiral says he was not the author of an e-mail criticizing President Obama for the four-day standoff with pirates off Somalia.

The message, which has circulated widely electronically and been picked up by some conservative broadcasters, quotes Rear Adm. Lou Sarosdy, The Virginian-Pilot reports. In the e-mail, he says he talked to some Navy SEALS who told him Obama rejected two plans to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips, the skipper of a U.S.-flagged merchant ship, who was being held hostage in a lifeboat.

Sarosdy told the newspaper in a telephone interview from his home in Pensacola, Fla., that he received the e-mail from a friend, who he thinks was another retired military officer. He forwarded it to others, saying it was a "fairly limited number of guys."

"I don't know any SEALs," he said. "I have no idea who transmitted that."

Phillips was rescued when Navy SEALS shot the three pirates with him. They took action when the pirates appeared to be preparing to harm him.