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.”
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS