Somali doctor Abdi Mohamed Elmi Hangul speaks at Medina hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia, Monday, March 8, 2010. Dr. Abdi Mohamed Elmi Hangul told The Associated Press during an interview at Medina Hospital that a British yachting couple seized by Somali pirates and held in separate locations have been temporarily reunited after weeks apart. The doctor who treated the two said Paul and Rachel Chandler were suffering from severe anxiety brought on by their separation and captivity in war-ravaged Somalia. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A British yachting couple seized by Somali pirates and held in separate locations have been temporarily reunited after weeks apart, a doctor who treated the two said.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were suffering from severe anxiety brought on by their separation and captivity in war-ravaged Somalia, Dr. Abdi Mohamed Elmi Hangul told The Associated Press during an interview at Medina Hospital on Sunday. The two were seized from their yacht, the Lynn Rival, in October and have been held apart for most of their captivity. Hangul said the pirates had phoned him on Sunday and said the couple had been temporarily reunited.
“The two hostages were in different locations but I advised the guys to reunite the couple, because both of them were worrying about their separation but they now told me that the two people have reunited already,” he said.
Hangul treated the two hostages last month at the invitation of their kidnappers, in the camps where they were being held along the Somali coastline.
Relatives of the British couple held hostage by Somali pirates have welcomed reports that they could soon be released.
Paul Chandler and his wife Rachel, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were captured while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania in October last year.
Somali deputy parliamentary speaker Mohamed Omar Dalha said he was hopeful they would be freed within two weeks. He said that communities inside and outside the war-ravaged country have been working to negotiate their unconditional release.
Stephen Collett – Mrs Chandler’s brother – refused to be drawn on any details of the hoped-for release but said he was “pleased” by the news. He has been in contact with the pirates via local broadcasters and the Foreign Office, who have been working towards their release.
The Chandlers are among about 130 sailors held hostage in Somalia.
In a telephone interview with a Somali television station, Mrs Chandler, who has recently appeared gaunt in pictures, said: “I’m obviously very tormented and very, very lonely and worried.” Meanwhile, Mr Chandler described their forced partition as “torture”.
The British Government has refused to pay a ransom for the couple and called for their immediate release. The Somali pirates have previously demanded a “seven million dollars” (£4.6 million) ransom for their safe release.
In a phone call translated by the BBC, one of the pirates said: “If they do not harm us, we will not harm them – we only need a little amount of seven million dollars.”
Mr Chandler, 59, and his wife, 55, were captured when armed men boarded their yacht as they slept.
It has since emerged that the crew of a Royal Navy vessel was forced to watch the Chandlers being kidnapped by pirates but military officials have insisted that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment tanker Wave Knight, carrying 75 merchant seamen and 25 Royal Navy sailors, could not have acted without endangering the lives of the couple.
Bartamaha (Nairobi):- The pirates who captured a retired British couple four months ago have dismissed growing pressure from the Somali diaspora for their unconditional release but are reducing their ransom demands.
Speaking to The Times from the place where Paul and Rachel Chandler are held, a pirate leader identifying himself as Ali Gedow rejected appeals from the British and other expatriate Somali communities worried about their reputation. “We don’t care about their pressure,” he declared.
But he made no mention of the pirates’ original demand for a $7 million (£4.5 million) ransom and suggested that they might release the couple if they can recoup their “expenses”. He put those at around $2 million, claiming that they included the cost of 150 guards, renting vehicles and food.
SOMALIS living in Redbridge have vowed to do “everything in our power” to help free a British couple kidnapped last year by Somali pirates stalking the Indian Ocean.
Yusuf Munye, 34, of Chester Road, Seven Kings, is leading a united front among the borough’s Somali population in the push to get Rachel and Paul Chandler released.
They were kidnapped while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania in October.
Their captors have threatened to kill the couple if their demands for $7million (£4.4million) are not met.
Mr Munye said: “Some people think the Somali community in Ilford supports the pirates.
“The main reason we have come together is to show we don’t support them.
“We are totally against their actions and we support our British brothers and sisters.”
Video footage released of the couple at the end of January showed them appealing for help after almost four months in captivity.
Last week, members of the Redbridge Somali community met in the Cardinal Heenan Centre, High Road, Ilford, to discuss what they could do to help bring the couple home.
Mr Munye said: “The government has said they won’t pay a ransom but we’re thinking about raising money to help.
“We’re also talking about trying to make contact with these pirates to help bring the Chandlers home.
“If we’re able to talk to them or to others in Somalia, there’s a chance they will release them.
“We will do everything in our power to free them.”
Mrs Chandler, 60 and Mr Chandler, 56, are understood to have been separated by their captors and are being held in areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small town of Amara, which is further inland.
As Danish Special Forces stormed a hijacked ship and released the crew, the Somali Government has appealed to pirates to free the British crew of a yacht now held for more than three months.
Somali Labour Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir, who is from Suleiman sub-clan of the Habar-gidir, and reported to be a relative of the clan who have kidnapped Paul and Rachel Chandler, said yesterday: ‘We urge the pirates to release the old British couple unconditionally.’
He made the demand during a news conference at the Presidential palace.
‘We also urge the British government and all Somalis to participate in releasing the couple by whatever the means. They are innocent Britons in the hands of criminals,’ he added. However, he refused to elucidate further on what he meant by the reference to the British Government.
A non-donor sent me an email this morning stating the following:
What happened to the money counter on the website? This concerns me…I hope the small funds have gone to paying the Chandler’s ransom. I hope this isn’t a ripoff! Damn, I so want them to be released!
I figure I would answer it publicly because there may be others (including the gracious people who have donated) that are curious as well.
It was brought to my attention by a professional who has worked with many of these cases that displaying this information may not be helpful during possible negotiations. My intentions are nothing less than helping Paul and Rachel get back to their families so I will avoid doing anything that might jeopardize this cause!
Her face is gaunt and drawn, her frame skeletal and weak.
The shocking effects of captivity are all too clear in this picture of Rachel Chandler, who has been held by Somali pirates for the last three months.
The image was taken by a French news agency that was allowed to accompany a doctor who examined Mrs Chandler and her husband Paul, who are being held separately.
Photo of Rachel Chandler at a location in central Somalia, where she is being held by pirates
The strain on 56-year-old Mrs Chandler’s face is clearly visible as she sits with her dress hanging loosely from her thin shoulders.
Yesterday she renewed her plea for urgent help, saying: ‘We have not much time left and are being badly treated. Please help us – these people are not treating us well.’
She went on: ‘I’m old, I’m 56, and my husband is 60 years old. We need to be together because we have not much time left. These people are treating us so cruelly.’
This is only the second time Mrs Chandler, an economist, has been seen since she and her husband were kidnapped in October at gunpoint as they sailed in their yacht towards Tanzania.
The last time was in November, when a video taken by the kidnappers – who are demanding a £1.9million ransom – was shown on Channel 4.
Mrs Chandler being examined by Somali doctor Abdi Mohamed Helmi at a location in central Somalia
They have made other pleas for help in desperate phone calls, most recently on January 21, but the physical deterioration in yesterday’s new images are clear.
The Somalian doctor who examined Mrs Chandler said she was suffering a heavy ‘ mental’ toll as well, which was manifested in ‘insomnia’.
Surgeon Mohamed Helmi Hangul, who spent three weeks securing permission to visit the couple, said she was ‘mentally ill’, ‘anxious’, ‘disorientated’ and had been asking repeatedly for her husband.
Mr Chandler also appeared gaunt in the video taken last Thursday but released last night. His ribs could be seen as he lifted his shirt to be checked by the doctor, who reported he had a cough and a fever.
Paul Chandler is examined by the Somali doctor: The pair are being held in separate locations in rugged areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small town of Amara
Paul Chandler, 60, pleaded for help after admitting the conditions they were being held in were 'difficult'
In the video, filmed by the AFP photographer, Mr Chandler, a retired quantity surveyor, called on the British Government to intervene.
‘We are innocent. We have done no wrong. We have no money and can’t pay a ransom. We just need the Government to help, anyone who can get us out of here,’ he said. ‘Day after day and this is 98 days of solitary confinement, no exercise. I don’t know what to do.’ Mr Chandler finally pleaded: ‘Will somebody please help? The government or somebody else.’
Dr Hangul added he had not been allowed to bring any drugs with him but left a prescription-with the pirates. ‘I gave them some advice and told them, “Your hostages can die. All you want is money so treat them well, let them reunite”,’ he said.
Mrs Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett, was too distressed to comment last night. A family friend said: ‘This is a highly distressing time for the family. They know the stakes are high and they are in an impossible position. The pirates want an unaffordable ransom and the Government won’t pay it.’
There has been sporadic communication with the Chandlers since they were captured, although this was the first time a journalist had been able to meet them.
Eleven days ago Mr Chandler spoke to ITV news, explaining their captives had ‘set a deadline of three or four days’, after which they expected to them to ‘kill us and abandon us in the desert’. In a separate call, Mrs Chandler said she had been hit with an object she believed was a gun.
A gang member told the Daily Mail last month that the couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, would be shot by the end of February if they were not paid a $3million ransom.
The Chandlers are being held in rugged areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small inland town of Amara but are moved every 48 hours.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has already insisted the Government will not become involved in any ransom payments.
A Foreign Office spokesman last night said: ‘We are doing everything we can to help secure their release.’
Somali pirates yesterday threatened a fight to the death that would endanger a hostage British couple if British forces attempt to rescue their captives.
“We die first before they get freed,” said one of the pirates, contacted by satellite telephone.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were captured on October 23 as they sailed their yacht, the 38ft Lynn Rival, from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.
The pirates’ new threat follows reports that an operation mounted by the Special Boat Service to rescue the couple was “bungled” before it could reach them because of technical problems.
If anyone interrupts our negotiations to get the payment of a ransom, it will be a risk for them [the Chandlers],” said “Gelle”, one of the pirates guarding the couple. “So we advise that no one interrupts our current good discussions.”
In the only comment that held some hope for the Chandlers, Gelle said that they had lowered their demand from $7m to $2m “or whatever price that we agree”. It was a clear signal that the pirates are open to offers.
Last week a Greek tanker, Maran Centaurus, was released for a reported $5.5m to $7m.
Gelle said that his group had spoken yesterday and on Friday with one of five brokers supposedly involved in negotiating a ransom. He said he believed the brokers were negotiating with “close relatives of our hostages, or other people trusted on behalf of them”.
The pirates are based in Haradheere, a fishing village north of the capital, Mogadishu. As well as the Chandlers, pirates are holding 11 ships, including the British-flagged chemical tanker St James Park which was seized on December 28.
Chandler, 59, said in an earlier telephone interview with ITV News, broadcast last week, that he and his wife, 55, had been separated and beaten and that he expected to be killed within “three or four days”.
Gelle denied the Chandlers were living under difficult conditions. “Okay, maybe they don’t feel good or comfortable but according to us they are fine,” he said.
“We also live in this situation so we do not think that they are that different from us. Once we get food, we share with them, and when there is a shortage of food they suffer with us.”
According to news posting by CNN, it appears the Somali pirates who are holding hostage the British sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler are close to killing them.
Repeated responses from the British Government have stated that they will not participate in negotiations with pirates. While the ransom was first set at $7 million, several weeks ago the pirates agreed to a much lessor amount of $100,000. The funds were raised however the exchange was blocked by the government.
CNN affiliate ITN has reported in separate telephone interviews that the couple pleaded for help and said they were fearful of being days away from death.
During the conversation with Rachel Chandler, she said “dying would actually be an easy way out” and that she wanted to see Paul “at least once before we die.” She also told the reporter that she had not seen her husband for two weeks since they were violently separated.
“I’ve broken a tooth because I was hit on the head with something, probably the butt of a gun…I don’t know…and yes, so we have been physically attacked.”
Rachel continued to say, “They’ve just told me that if they dont get the money within for or five days they’ll kill one of us.”
In tears, she asked for a message to be passed along to her husband. “The message to him is hang on for me because I hope – my biggest hope – is that I shall see him at least once before we die.”
She added: “It’s hard not to feel , well, dying would actually be an easy way out. It’s hard to explain but it is when you’re all on your own in this country and you’ve no idea where you are and no idea when something might happen and whether I’ll see Paul again. It’s just very, very despairing”
During a separate telephone interview one day earlier, Paul Chandler, 59, described how they were separated and savagely beaten.
“We tried to stay together and they threw us to the ground and whipped us and beat Rachel with a rifle butt and I was dragged off, taken to a different location.”
“I was allowed to telephone her about 12 days ago. She said she was being tormented all the time and then she said she was giving up. They’ve lost patience. They set a deadline of three or four days, if they don’t hear, then they say they will let us die.”
“We’re held in solitary confinement effectively. You know it’s just [like being] treated as a captive animal.”
It was not clear under what conditions the captives, who have been in sporadic telephone and video contact with journalists, had been allowed telephone access. ITN said both conversations had been shared with the British Home Office and his family.
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s official line on hostages says “the government will not make substantive concession for hostage takers, including the payments of ransom.”
Pirates have been very active off the east coast of Africa in the past several years, operating out of lawless Somalia.
Last week, pirates attempted to hijack an Indian crude oil vessel 105 nautical miles from Somalia, the EU’s anti-piracy naval force said. The pirates opened fire on the ship and were later arrested.
Piracy on the high-seas reached a six-year high in 2009, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors shipping crimes.
There are reports that the Somali pirates holding the British couple, Rachel and Paul Chandler, are demanding payment of ransom within two months. There is no question that their demand is unacceptable. Giving in to such a demand will encourage criminality. However, Somalia Research Report is of the opinion that not all the right buttons have been pressed to facilitate the unconditional release of the British couple who were in their yatch off the Somalia coast when the pirates captured them nearly three months ago.
We believe Rachel and Paul Chandler can be released provided the British government take the right steps since it dealt with a case far more complicated than this: that of the gangster Mustaf Jama who murdered the British policewoman Sharon Beshenivsky in 2005, and fled to Somalia. Mustaf Jama was brought back to United Kingdom from Somalia to face justice. We are not calling for a similar approach to nab the pirates holding the British couple but to see a productive cooperation between the British government and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and its ally Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a group near where the pirates are based.
Both the TFG and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a can use their leverage to persuade the pirates to release the couple. Few months ago the prime minister of Somalia’s TFG Omar Sharmarke was received at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Although the Somalia’s TFG prime minister does not hail from the area where pirates are holding the British couple, he , along with the Somali president and other influential Southern politicians and traditional leaders can put effort into bringing the whole hostage saga to a peaceful end.
The release of Rachel and Paul Chandler can be secured if the British Government and Somali authorities cooperate. We demand the unconditional release of Rachel and Paul Chandler NOW.
Relatives of the British couple held hostage by Somali pirates have welcomed reports that they could soon be released.
Bartamaha (Nairobi):- The pirates who captured a retired British couple four months ago have dismissed growing pressure from the Somali diaspora for their unconditional release but are reducing their ransom demands.
