World | UK
British kidnap victim pleads for life
London : With an assault rifle pointed at her head, British woman kidnapped by Somali pirates pleaded for her life Friday night. Surrounded by their captors, Rachel Chandler warned that she and her husband Paul could be killed within days.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 November 22, 2009
- Image Credit: EPA
- A crew member (centre) of the Spanish tuna fishing ship Alakrana is welcomed by his relatives upon his arrival at the airport in Loiu yesterday. The Alakrana's crew arrived at an air base in Madrid from the Seychelles early yesterday.
She said the kidnappers were "losing patience" and urged the British Government to open talks on a ransom. Chandler said: "We are feeling very much under threat now. These people won't hesitate to take our lives."
Wearing a white robe and appearing frail, she went on: "Our captors are getting very impatient that no one has been in touch or entered into negotiations.
"So we ask the Government and people of Britain and their families to do whatever they can to enter into negotiations to buy back our lives. We are under threat and we are told that we will not be fed and given water. So we are very concerned about the future."
The 55-year-old added: "We are also told that there is a terrorist cell, or a fanatic cell, searching for us."
The couple were seized 29 days ago as they sailed from the Seychelles to Tanzania on their 38-foot yacht.
Their appeal for help came in a video shot by the kidnappers in the African bush on Wednesday and released to Channel 4 News Friday night. Channel 4 said it had broadcast the video with the consent of the Chandlers' family. Last night a Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are aware of the video. Any such video will be distressing for the family."
— Daily Mail
Crew returns home
The Spanish crew members of a tuna trawler who spent 47 days as hostages of Somali pirates before they were freed for a reported $3.3 million ransom returned home to emotional reunions at their home port yesterday.
At a crowded press conference in the northern Spanish city of Vigo, the captain of the fishing vessel Alakrana said his men endured anxious moments just after they were set free on Tuesday because a boat belonging to another group of pirates was waiting in Somali waters as they set sail.
— AP
News Editor's choice
-
Credit profiles in six months
Credit profiles for individuals, firms to be made available to creditors in six months
-
Uncertainty ahead of UP vote
Seven-phase polling begins today in the testing ground for national parties
-
Go shopping with Nol cards soon
RTA in talks with top grocery and supermarket chains on new feature
