Somali pirates demand $7m for British couple

Mogadishu, Somalia: Somali pirates who are demanding $7 million (Dh25.7 million) in ransom for a British sailing couple say boats from other countries are "looting" Somalia's fish-rich waters.

Ahmad Gadaf, who says he's a spokesman for the pirates, says Western fishing vessels "harass" local fishermen and destroy their nets. Gadaf spoke to the Associated Press by satellite phone.

Gadaf says the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, are safe and will not be harmed.

The BBC said that Somali pirates called the broadcaster to demand $7 million for the release of a British couple whose yacht was hijacked off the coast of Africa.

The British broadcaster cited an unidentified caller Friday as saying the size of the ransom was justified because Nato forces in the area had arrested Somali fishermen and destroyed their equipment.

"If they do not harm us, we will not harm them," the caller said.

"We only need a little amount of $7 million."

Paul and Rachel Chandler were headed to Tanzania in their boat, the Lynn Rival, when a distress signal was sent October 23. The British navy found their empty yacht on Thursday, and both have been in sporadic contact with the British media since.

Rachel Chandler told her brother, Stephen Collett, in a telephone call broadcast on Friday that the couple were "bearing up."

"They tell us that we're safe and we shouldn't worry and that if we want anything they will provide it in terms of food and water and everything like that," she said, according to a transcript.

"They are very hospitable people so don't worry... Physically we're fine, physically we're healthy."

Transfer

Pirates have moved the couple kidnapped from their yacht to a village in Somalia, a pirate said on Saturday.

"They were taken to a village outside Harardhere and they are fine so far," Abdi Yare said by phone. Harardhere is a pirate lair on the central coast of Somalia.

The BBC reported that the pirates discussed for several hours how much money to ask for in return for the pair.

Leah Mickleborough, the couple's niece, said the family had been unaware of the ransom request before they saw it on the BBC.

"We had no idea what the figure would be. We have seen the report on the BBC and we will look into it," she said.

Britain's Foreign Office said it was aware of the report but did not provide any further details.

British officials held a meeting on the hostage situation Friday in the government's crisis briefing room, known as Cobra. The Foreign Office said a team from across several government departments was involved.

Both the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence declined to comment on whether any rescue was under consideration.

A local elder, Abdulahi Mohammad, also said by phone that the couple was taken outside Harardhere. But he said he did not know exactly where.

Illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia stirs strong passions in the country. The prime minister of Somalia's transitional government, Omar Abdul Rashid Ali Sharmarke, said in a speech Wednesday that many pirates are former fishermen "responding to the loss and disappearance of their livelihoods."

"Many of these pirates were once profitable fisherman and would be so again given the chance," he said at the London-based Chatham House think tank. "I shall not name names, but suffice to say many countries are fishing illegally in Somali waters," he said. "We estimate that the value of the fish being taken from our waters is perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars.

"It is wholly unacceptable for these countries, many of whom claim they want to help Somalia, to turn a blind eye to this theft. Particularly when that theft robs thousands of Somali people of a way out of poverty and a way out of piracy," Sharmarke said.

Pirate attacks have increased the last several weeks after the recent end of the monsoon season. An international armada is patrolling the region to try to stop the attacks.