UK couple face death at hands of pirates

Published on Saturday 9 January 2010 19:05

A BRITISH couple kidnapped by Somali pirates will be killed within weeks if a ransom is not paid, their kidnappers have threatened.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, who have been held since being snatched from their yacht in the Indian Ocean in October, will be shot if $3 million (1.9m) is not handed over by 1 March.

The Somali gang also claimed Mrs Chandler had been beaten and needed medical treatment after clinging to her husband when the kidnappers threatened to separate them.

One of the kidnappers, called only Noor, said: "We are giving an ultimatum of two months from 1 January.

"If we are not paid $3m we are ready to shoot them. It is becoming too expensive to hold these people. By March, they have to decide or we will be done with them."

Mr Chandler, 59, a retired quantity surveyor and his former economist wife, 55, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had been on a round-the- world sailing trip.

It has been reported that the boss of a British anti-piracy organisation with contacts in Somalia claimed to have negotiated the couple's release for 100,000, only for the UK government to have blocked the deal.

Nick Davis, former military pilot and chairman of the Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre said: "We could have had the Chandlers out weeks ago. The money was available, the pirates were keen to let them go – it was just a case of pushing the button.

"The people that can effect a release are being blocked because the government is just playing another game."