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14 Nov 2010 10:33

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World: Rachel & Paul Chandler: Huge ransom needed to set them free

  • 387 days pirates held Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage source
  • » It wasn’t cheap to set them free: Why did it take so long to get them free? Well, there were some ransom issues. First the pirates asked for £4 million in ransom, around $6.45 million dollars. The amount was too much, but they still wanted something. A later ransom, for around £350,000 ($565,000) was intercepted by intermediaries who wanted a cut of the action. Finally, a third ransom, also in the hundreds of thousands range, was accepted, and the Chandlers were let go – but not after being separated and physically abused by their captors.

31 Jan 2010 11:32

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World: Brits captured by Somalian pirates: We desperately need help

  • The pirates want $7 million. The British government won’t pay. Despite pleading from Paul and Rachel Chandler, they’re still not getting any help. Part of it is a longstanding British policy not to play nice with pirates. As a result, they’ve been captured since October. “Please help us, these people are not treating us well,” Rachel Chandler said in a video filmed by AFP. “I’m old, I’m 56 and my husband is 60 years old. We need to be together because we have not much time left.” Yikes. source