Mogadishu (Alshahid) – Somali pirates who claim to be holding a British couple captive after storming their yacht today demanded a ransom for their release.
Retired quantity surveyor Paul Chandler, 59, and his economist wife Rachel, 55, disappeared last Friday while taking their vessel, the Lynn Rival, from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.
But contact was made with the Kent couple on Thursday, when they revealed in a telephone call to ITV that they had been kidnapped.
According to reports, one of the alleged pirates called “Gedow” who insisted he was from the Somali voluntary coastguard, claims that the Chandlers had been taken as a precaution against “international violators”.
Gedow said: “Our naval forces met them (the Chandlers) in the deep ocean, but it was the Somali Ocean.
“They didn’t have permission to sail in the Somali waters, so that is why we captured them.
“We are not bandits. We are not pirates. We describe ourselves as the voluntary coastguard. We protect our coast from the international violators.”
But he warned: “We can not identify who is looting our resources and who is not, so we capture everyone who sails in our waters without permission.
“We will charge them (the Chandlers) some money. They have to pay.”
The development came as government officials held urgent talks on the plight of the couple.
