British Couple Released From Somali Pirates

A retired British couple kidnapped for 13 months by Somali pirates was released on Sunday.
British Couple Released From Somali Pirates
Released British hostages Rachel (L) and Paul (R) Chandler pose with newly-appointed Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. (Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty Images))
Jasper Fakkert
11/14/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/106822105.jpg" alt="Released British hostages Rachel (L) and Paul (R) Chandler pose with newly-appointed Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. (Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty Images))" title="Released British hostages Rachel (L) and Paul (R) Chandler pose with newly-appointed Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. (Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty Images))" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1812149"/></a>
Released British hostages Rachel (L) and Paul (R) Chandler pose with newly-appointed Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. (Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty Images))
A retired British couple kidnapped for 13 months by Somali pirates was released on Sunday. Paul and Rachel Chandler were sailing on a yacht when they were kidnapped by pirates off the Seychelles.

“We are happy to be alive, happy to be here, desperate to see our family. … We’ve been a year with criminals and that’s not a very nice thing to be doing,” Rachel Chandler said at a press conference in the Somali city of Mogadishu, according to the Associated Press.

Despite being skinny, the couple says they are fine. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron described the release in a statement as “tremendous news,” and said he “unreservedly condemn(s)” the kidnapping. There has been no official statement on whether a ransom was paid and how much. According to the BBC, a payment estimated to be worth $1 million had been made to secure the couple’s release.
Jasper Fakkert is the Editor-in-chief of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science and a Master's degree in Journalism. Twitter: @JasperFakkert
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