Chandlers will be home ‘very soon’
The freed Somali hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler are expected to return home from Nairobi “very soon”. Katie Razzall gauges the reaction of the UK Somali community to their kidnapping, and release.
The couple, who were freed over the weekend after more than a year in captivity at the hands of Somali pirates, have been told of the death of Paul’s father while they were in captivity.
The Chandlers left the British High Commission in Nairobi this morning and are now on a flight back to Britain, amid reports that up to $1m was paid as a ransom for their release.
The couple released a statement through the Foreign Office which read: “We have just learned that Paul’s father died in late July and we obviously need to come to terms with that.
“We will return to the UK very soon.”
British Somali community celebrates
Britain's Somali community is celebrating the release of the Chandlers; for them the kidnapping was hugely significant and they've campaigned hard to secure their release, writes Channel 4 News reporter Katie Razzall.
We revealed yesterday that a Somali Briton former minicab driver from east London masterminded the Chandlers' release. Behind the scenes, many British Somalians have been lobbying those they know in Somalia, pressing the local community there to intervene with the pirates.
Today I met some inspirational youngsters at Copeland Community School in North West London. Like the children of that former minicab driver, all said they were embarrassed by what the pirates had done, that it shamed them. They sang a song for us to rejoice in the Chanders' freedom.
For these 12-16 year olds, it was confusing that their community taught them to respect their elders and yet the Somalian pirates had had no respect for the Chandlers. As one youngster put it: "I felt ashamed knowing my own kind, my own race, my own country, probably like, even my own blood have captured someone like, over the age of 50, is like terrible.
Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs correspondent Jonathan Rugman reported tonight that a Royal Navy auxiliary ship – the Wave Knight – was only a hundred metres away at the time of the kidnap. Although marines were on board, special forces who had been flown out from the UK had been delayed at a Middle Eastern airbase and failed to arrive on time.
An MOD spokesperson said tonight that it was its policy not to comment on special forces because “to do so would impair operational capability and risk personal security.”
‘Exactly the right things’
But the spokesperson said that those on board the Wave Knight and in command of the mission did “exactly the right things.”
“As in all situations of this sort they had to balance capabilities and possible actions against the risk to life,” the MoD added.
“They did everything that they could in that operation and, could action have been taken, with a guarantee on the safety of the Chandlers, they would have done so. The decision not to intervene was unquestionably the right one in the circumstances and we should not second guess that.
“The Royal Marines on board RFA Wave Knight were deployed to board complex pirate vessels, not to resolve hostage situations, which they identified during their pre-deployment briefings. It should be remembered that there were two pirated vessels with separate groups of hostages held.
“Action by personnel onboard RFA Wave Knight was not appropriate due to their limited number and expertise in dealing with multiple vessel hostage situations. There were believed to be 21 hostages aboard the pirated Merchant Vessel and Paul and Rachel Chandler on the Lynn Rival, their collective safety was a paramount consideration in any HMG action.”
Release background
Channel 4 News last night revealed the former London minicab driver who claimed he masterminded the release of the British yachting couple.
The middleman, Dahir Abdullahi Kadiye, divides his time between London and Somalia and said he took on the role of negotiator six months ago when his children told him they were ashamed when they saw the Chandlers’ appeals for help.
The Chandlers were held for 388 days after being captured in October last year on their yacht, which they were sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania.
The retired couple from Tunbridge Wells said they had suffered “mental torture” in their life in captivity, during which they also pleaded with Prime Minister David Cameron to help secure their release.