Somali pirates who claim to have kidnapped a retired British couple in the Indian Ocean are said to have threatened to use them as “insurance” against any attempt to rescue the crew of a Spanish fishing trawler seized early this month.
As the fate of Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, remained unclear, threats against the couple were made in telephone calls to media organizations on Wednesday.
The trawler Alakrana and its 36 crew were taken on Oct. 2, reportedly by the same group claiming to hold the Chandlers on their yacht, Lynn Rival.
In one call, a pirate who gave his name as Shamum Indhobur, reportedly told the Spanish news agency EFE that any rescue attempt on either vessel would result in suffering for those aboard the other.
“We have the Spanish ship and this new yacht, and we warn naval forces that they must avoid any military action, because if one is attacked, we will punish those from the other,” he said in a call from Harardhere, a Somali pirate haven.
SPOTTED
Meanwhile, a Spanish military helicopter has spotted the hijacked yacht near the Somali coast, the European naval force said on Thursday.
“[It] has been confirmed as the missing British yacht,” the force said in a statement.
There is still no confirmation that Paul Chandler, 59, a former quantity surveyor, and Rachel Chandler, 55, an economist, have been taken hostage. The EU Naval Force said a yacht seen on Tuesday towing a skiff 320km southeast of Harardhere was still being monitored.
In another phone call, Ahmed Sheikh, who claimed to be a member of the gang, reportedly told the French news agency AFP that about 60 gunmen had arrived in Harardhere to protect the pirates, adding: “We have made proper contact with the boat and everybody is OK. The hostages’ fate will be discussed when the boat gets here.”
THREATS
Another alleged pirate, Mohamed Hussein, said the Chandlers’ lives would be in danger if there was any attack.
“We are telling Britain that ... any attack on us ... they will burn [those] two people’s bones,” he told Sky News.
The couple, who have been traveling the world for the past three years, set off last Thursday for Tanzania from Seychelles.
They had informed family and friends they could be out of satellite phone contact for several days. Relatives were yesterday “keeping their fingers crossed,” as Somalia’s prime minister, Omar Sharmarke, on a visit to London, pledged his government would do everything it could to “see a peaceful solution.”
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