British Couple Held for $7 million by Somali Pirates
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The pirates who hijacked the yacht of a British couple last week have demanded $7 million for their release, according to a representative of the British government.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says that it will not pay the ransom. “The government will not make substantive concessions for hostage takers, including the payments of ransom,” British policy states.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were allowed to communicate with a family member by phone Friday. “We’re managing. Physically we’re fine; physically, we’re healthy,” Rachel Chandler told her brother Stephen Collett.
The couple is currently being held on a hijacked Spanish ship, after local Somali elders refused to let the pirates bring the couple ashore.
The attack is the latest in over 150 attacks by pirates operating out of Somalia so far this year. Of the 533 hostages taken, only four have been killed and eight wounded
