A BRITISH couple kidnapped by Somali pirates over a year ago have been released.
Paul Chandler (61) and Rachel Chandler (56) were handed over by the pirates to officials in the Somali town of Adado yesterday morning, bringing to an end one of the most high-profile hostage cases since the piracy problem began off the coast of east Africa.
They were then flown to the capital Mogadishu, where they gave a short press conference before flying to the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
“We are among decent, everyday people, with Somali people . . . and not with the criminals,” said Ms Chandler. “To home now, with our family and friends.”
In a statement read to the Chandlers, Somalia’s new prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said the Somali government and people were pleased that they had finally secured their freedom.
The “Transitional Federal Government . . . exerted every humanly possible effort to bring you back to your loved ones and notwithstanding what you went through,” he said.
The pair were captured on their 38ft yacht Lynn Rivalon October 23th last year when sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania. Both had retired early and sold their home to sail the world.
Over the course of their ordeal, the couple have been held in solitary confinement and separated for days at a time. TV footage earlier this year showed them looking thin and in apparent ill-health.
It is understood that a $1 million ransom, raised by the Chandlers’ family, friends and members of the Somali diaspora, was paid to secure the couple’s release.
An earlier deal brokered by a specialist negotiating team hired by the family is thought to have collapsed. Their captors were said to have originally asked for $7 million. However, this was not confirmed or denied by the Chandler family back in the UK.
“There will be the inevitable questions of how their release was achieved,” they said in a statement, released when the couple arrived in Nairobi.
“The family believes it would be irresponsible to discuss any aspect of the release process as this could encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments, something that we are sure none of us wants.”
Ship hijackings hit a five-year high in the first nine months of 2010, according to the International Maritime Board, with Somali pirates responsible for 35 of the 39 ships seized.
Meanwhile 500 people and nearly 30 ships are still being held by Somali pirates, according to Ecoterra, an organisation that monitors shipping in the Indian Ocean.
Somalia has lacked an effective central government for almost two decades and is awash with weapons. The mayhem on land has allowed piracy to boom in the strategic waterways off its shores linking Europe to Asia and Africa. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)