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.

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.

Even that amount appears to be out of the question. The British Government has refused to pay any ransom and the Chandlers’ family do not have that sort of money. But the pirates’ lessened demands have given rise to hopes that they realise they have captured the wrong people and are looking for a face-saving way out.

A Whitehall security official toldThe Times: “This case is unusual. Unlike seamen kidnapped in the region, the Chandlers are just ordinary holidaymakers without the backing of a big company and the pirates may well be realising this now.”

Ridwaan Haji Abdiwali, a presenter with the Somali satellite television channel Universal TV, who has used his show to appeal for the Chandlers’ release, said that the pirates would have put the couple up as collateral to borrow money. “Since Somalis [abroad] began pressuring them it seems they are reducing their demands,” he said.

The Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were captured on October 23 as they sailed from the Seychelles towards Tanzania. Mr Gedow claimed — absurdly — that their yacht was inside Somali waters and that the pirates were simply protecting those waters from illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping.

He said Mrs Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett, called the pirates almost daily to appeal for the couple’s release, but the British Government had made no contact. If the Government did not pay, he warned, “they will never see this couple again”.

Mr Gedow claimed that the Chandlers’ health was poor and deteriorating, with Mrs Chandler, 56, scarcely talking and unable to walk any distance. There was no need for the pirates to consider killing their hostages as they would die soon anyway.

There is no way to corroborate those claims, though the pirates did release a video in January showing Mrs Chandler looking thin and frail. Mr Gedow refused to put Mrs Chandler on the telephone, though he claimed that he was standing next to her.

He said the Chandlers were being kept in separate locations near the coastal town of Haradheere in case the British military tried to rescue them, and had not seen each other since a Somali doctor visited them last month.
He said that he felt sorry for them but “those responsible are the British Government and the British people who don’t care about these two. Other hostages have been released by their own countries . . . Everyone else in the world is helping their own citizens.”

The Government argues that it should do nothing to encourage the seizure of other British citizens. A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are monitoring the situation very closely and doing everything we can to help secure a release.”

A spokesman for the Chandlers’ family declined to comment, but a letter released to the media earlier this month said a continuing “dialogue” with the pirates was making progress.

Original source from Bartamaha.com

“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.”

Paul and Rachel Chandler were captured by Somali Pirates almost 100 days ago.  They are being held captive in exchange for $7 million US dollars.   However, its been reported that the pirates would be willing to ’settle’ with approximately $100,000.

This site has been created not to argue the merits of hostage negotiations nor figure out a solution to end the piracy problem.  It was created with the sole purpose of obtaining freedom for Paul and Rachel Chandler!

My commitment is to create a vehicle where by people can donate for the cause.  Im also committed to helping facilitate the exchange – money for the Chandlers.   If by any reason, the money raised by this site is NOT used towards the ransom of the Chandlers, then I WILL offer the donors an option of full MONEY BACK or they can have me direct the funds to the family on their behalf.

As stated in the “about” section of this site, my goal is not to make money from this tragic event.  As a matter of fact, I have already put several hundred dollars and a LOT of hours into this with my only goal of seeing these two innocent people escape their captors.

Now you can help a cause AND have a Money Back Guarantee!

SaveTheChandlers.com was created in an attempt to raise both awareness and money to help gain the Chandlers freedom.  Via many emails from concerned citizens and heavy web traffic, it appears that more people are following as this tragic event unfolds.  However, Im sad to say that we have only raised a little over $100. If each viewer would have donated $10, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now!

We all have our opinions as to how to “handle” this situation.  Some believe that negotiations with pirates only encourages more kidnappings.  Others feel that we should give the money and help Paul and Rachel resume their peaceful lives.

Regardless of your personal and political beliefs around this matter, it appears we may be coming up against a deadline for action.   Considering the latest news obtained from telephone conversations with the Chandlers, the time to act is now!

Here are the facts:

Thanks to the valiant efforts of the Merchant Maritime Warfare Center (MMWC) and its chairman Nick Davis, they raised $100,000 which the pirates agreed would be enough to free them.

Unfortunately, the UK Government intervened and blocked the transaction so they could not make the exchange.

What I propose:

Since it appears that there IS money available and the only thing preventing their freedom is the UK Government, I propose a way in which the government does not have to be involved in the exchange!

The internet is a wonderful tool and should be used in this case as well!  By using a method of money transfer such as PayPal or even wire transfer to an account, we could effectively give the pirates the previously agreed upon sum of $100,000 US.    All they need to do is set up an account in their country and we can transfer the funds.

This can be performed in 2 stages so both parties will feel protected.  I suggest that we transfer $50,000 UPON Rachel Chadlers SAFE release and confirmed passage back to the UK.  When she is free, we will give them the money as a way of showing that we are willing to complete the exchange.  The pirates will still have Paul as collateral that we will perform our part.

After her exchange, the pirates should be able to see that we are willing to work with them and eager to exchange Paul for the remaining $50,000, also for his safe and confirmed release.

If you are someone who can represent the pirates, I suggest you contact me.

If you are a member of the MMWC and still have access to the funds, I suggest you contact me.

If you are a concerned citizen who wants to help (either through money or other support), I suggest you contact me!

Once again, my goal is not to challenge the pros and cons of hostage negotiations, its merely to see that Paul and Rachel have a chance to live out their natural lives!

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.

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.

sourced from Somalipressreview.com

Kidnapped on October 22, 2009 by Somali pirates, the two british sailors are still being held by their captors.

Unconfirmed reports state that Somali’s Radio Gaalkacyo said the couple faced daily threats from the pirates who hijacked their yacht.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was continuing to monitor the situation “closely”.  This comes after several failed attempts to seek the release of the Chandlers.

Paul and Rachel Chandler held captive by Somali Pirates

Radio reports on Wednesday from the coastal town of Xarardheer, also known as Harardheer, said the hostages were facing difficult living conditions while in captivity.

The pirates have previously demanded $7 million in a phone call to the BBC, and said they would shoot Paul and Rachel if it were not paid.

Negotiations have enticed the pirates to accept a much lessor sum of $165,000, however the British government intervened and blocked the transaction.

The FCO has previously expressed sympathy for the victims’ families, but has continued to reiterate its position that it does not “make substantive concessions to hostage takers, including ransoms”.

Their family made another appeal for their release after seeing the footage of them surrounded by gunmen.

In their first telephone call for five weeks, Paul and Rachel Chandler urged the authorities to talk to their captors to help free them.

The Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were kidnapped while they sailed their yacht, Lynn Rival, near the Seychelles in late October.

Paul Chandler, 59, a retired quantity surveyor, who sounded calm, said: “I would like to say to the British government: get us out by Christmas, by whatever means.” But indicating his disillusion, he added: “We don’t think there’s much chance, seriously.”

The Sunday Times obtained the interview with Chandler and his 55-year-old wife through a local journalist, “Omar”, who travelled to the area where they are being held and allowed them to speak to this newspaper via his mobile phone.

There were unconfirmed reports last week that the couple were on the verge of being freed for a $100,000 (£61,500) ransom when the government blocked the deal. In response to that claim, Chandler said: “We have no knowledge of what is happening in Britain except that we have been told that the government has refused to become involved.

“As far as we are concerned it is not a straightforward piracy business, it is a plain criminal kidnapping and … should be approached with a rather different approach than the government uses.

“When you have a criminal gang carrying out a kidnapping, [the government] should not be averse to negotiating with that gang and following it up with whatever means. I don’t think the government should step back and say ‘this is nothing to do with us’.”

The pirates had demanded a ransom of $7m but, when handed the phone, the gang’s leader would only say: “We do not wish to put a figure on the couple’s head but what I would say is that we are open to negotiations.”

The Foreign Office refuses to negotiate with hostage takers. A spokesman said: “We call for the release of Paul and Rachel. Our efforts are ongoing to secure the safe release of the couple. We are in close touch with the family.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday admitted that Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, had authorised a Royal Marine unit that witnessed the kidnapping to intervene. But it said it was the ship’s commander who decided it was unsafe to attempt a rescue.

The RFA Wave Knight was within 50 yards of the pirates and had a marine unit and a Merlin helicopter aboard. But Sir Mark Stanhope, the first sea lord, claimed the ship did not have the expertise required for a hostage rescue.

An MoD spokesman defended the failure to intervene. “It was entirely proper for those responsible for carrying out the operation to make tactical level decisions,” he said.

“Those responsible for carrying out the operation had to balance capabilities and possible actions against the risk to life.”

Pirates usually keep the crews aboard after hijacking ships. But they abandoned the Chandlers’ yacht and took them to the mainland. They are now moving around, living in Land Cruisers which are changed regularly.

The gang appears desperate to ransom the couple because other groups, including hard-line Islamists, are threatening to attack them.

When the Chandlers complained to Omar about the lack of communication to the outside world, he gave them his radio. He also gave them his pen.

The couple are drinking plenty of water but not eating well as they are finding it difficult to consume the local dishes of meat, rice, pasta and a traditional Somali pancake known as anjeero.

Omar said that Paul Chandler seemed to have lost weight since the couple were last seen in a film broadcast on November 20. The video showed them looking thin and fatigued, pleading for the government to start negotiating with the gangs and saying they might otherwise be killed.

Somali pirates do not normally harm their hostages but this case appears to be more complicated. In commercial piracy, the gangs deal with insurance firms or shipping companies which would eventually pay a ransom.

However, the Chandlers, who are both retired, had sold their house in Britain to go sailing and have no money.

Article sourced from Timesonline

A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates six weeks ago were on the verge of being freed for a £100,000 ransom when the government blocked the deal, the Observer can reveal.

The money to release Paul and Rachel Chandler, taken hostage from their yacht on 23 October, had been agreed by a British negotiator two weeks ago. Foreign Office officials rejected the breakthrough, saying that they would not allow payments to hostage-takers.

The disclosure will increase the anguish for relatives of the Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, after concern that Britain’s policy of not talking to kidnappers will endanger their lives.

Nick Davis, who negotiated the deal, yesterday accused the Foreign Office of playing “stupid games” after revealing how the Chandlers’ captors had agreed to an offer that would have released the couple at a fraction of the £4.3m ransom previously demanded.

Davis, chairman of the industry anti-piracy organisation, the Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre (MMWC), accused the government of pursuing a flawed diplomatic strategy that could imperil the couple. The centre was set up last year to educate the shipping trade in anti-piracy measures and is funded by industry groups and insurers.

Davis 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. It was all ready to go. The pirates don’t want to keep the Chandlers any longer. It’s not good for them either.

“A figure of £100,000 had been agreed and put in place. It’s still ready the second that I get given the nod. Then I can get them out and we can release the funds and get it to [the pirates].”

The Chandlers have been held captive for 45 days in Somalia. They were sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania as part of a round-the-world tour when their 38ft yacht, Lynn Rival, was boarded by gunmen while they slept.

Davis said he had decided to go public because of his frustration at the negotiations and because of contacts from Somalia suggesting that Rachel Chandler, who is 55 and a retired economist, was becoming extremely frail. Her health was under pressure, he said, from constant shuttling between safe houses around the Somalian port town of Haradheere, to prevent the pair being caught by armed Islamist cells. “She can’t cope with this. She’s very weak and deteriorating; she’s in a bad way and we need to get her home,” he said.

The deal was agreed on 21-22 November but, according to Davis, fell through because the Foreign Office would not deviate from its policy of not paying hijackers nor would it communicate the breakthrough to relatives of the Chandlers in the UK. “The fact that professionals can affect their release should be clearly articulated to the family of the Chandlers so they can decide whether to support it,” he said.

Davis, who has visited pirate contacts in Haradheere four times in the past two years, said concern was mounting over the government’s policy of negotiating the Chandlers’ release through middlemen, and that the “third-party” individuals involved seemed incapable of delivering a settlement.

A Foreign Office source said it had had little contact with the couple since they appeared on a video link two weeks ago.

Davis said: “We’re in a situation where the people that can effect a release are being effectively blocked by diplomatic efforts because they [the British government] are just playing another game, that’s the problem. There are secret games, just stupid games going on with the government diplomatically that does not work in the families’ favour.”

His exasperation corroborates the frustration of experienced Scotland Yard hostage negotiators from SCD7 command, who are also involved in the Chandler negotiations. Met sources have indicated frustration at lack of progress, with one source saying that an opportunity to secure release was “missed early on”.

The revelations will intensify scrutiny of the government’s “hands-off” policy of refusing to talk directly with kidnappers or terrorists. The approach was criticised during attempts to five Britons kidnapped in Baghdad two years ago, a strategy that left UK officials reliant on mediators and has not prevented four of the five hostages being killed.

Last night Mrs Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett, and Mr Chandler’s sister, Jill Marshment, refused to comment on the revelations.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We do not discuss operational details in cases like this. We are using our contacts in the region to gain information and bring influence to bear on the hostage-takers. We will talk to anyone who may be able to help secure their release, but we do not make substantive concessions to hostage-takers.”

Davis said: “There is a political agenda that’s far removed from what the public think is the right and respectful thing to do as regards the Chandlers. Let’s get it resolved and make sure the government looks like it’s won at the end of the day. They need to let us speak to the right people and get the Chandlers out of there, or do they want to keep it a secret squirrel society?”

The £100,000 deal was struck shortly after the Chandlers appeared in a video broadcast on 20 November and appealed directly to the British government to open talks for their release. The footage shows the couple looking thin and fatigued, with Mr Chandler, a 59-year-old retired quantity surveyor, pleading for the government to start negotiating over a ransom and saying they might otherwise be killed within a week.

Davis said the pirates were extremely keen to strike a deal, but increasingly “fed up” over the lack of a settlement. He said the ransom fee was ready to be released instantly and had been raised through the advance sale of media rights, such as book deals and interview rights.

News of the deal coincides with fresh concerns over the protection of shipping routes off the coast of Somalia. Britain’s private security industry is debating having officials routinely employed on all shipping routes off Somalia. Davis’s organisation even has a contract with Yemen’s navy to provide armed escorts for vessels crossing the Gulf of Aden.

At least six UK private security firms are operating off Somalia, employing former personnel of the Special Boat Service, the Royal Marines landing craft squadron and the Royal Navy. So profound is the threat of piracy that deployment to the Gulf of Aden has become the industry’s new growth area.

A source at the British Association of Private Security Companies said: “Demand in Iraq has gone down, Afghanistan never took off to the extent people expected – but Somalia is booming.”

More than 168 incidents of piracy were reported off Somalia in the first nine months of 2009 compared with 111 in all of 2008, according to Lord Jopling, a Nato special adviser on piracy. More than 500 hostages have been taken in 2009 so far, of whom 150 are still held by the pirates.