British couple held hostage fear that they will be killed within a week if a ransom is not paid to release them

A British couple held hostage by Somali pirates said in a video broadcast their captors were “losing patience” and could kill them within a week if no ransom was paid.

The video of Paul and Rachel Chandler - held since their yacht, the Lynn Rival, was boarded in the Indian Ocean on October 23 - was made on Wednesday and broadcast on Britain’s Channel Four News programme on Friday.

Paul Chandler, 59, said he and his wife Rachel, 55, were unharmed, but added that no-one had responded to the pirates’ demand for a ransom of $7 million.

“Our kidnappers are losing patience. They are concerned that there has been no response at all to their demands for money,” he said, surrounded by armed men pointing their weapons at him and his wife.

“We have been threatened that there is a terrorist gang at large in the country looking for us,” Chandler said.

“We are also concerned that these people will lose patience and will not feed us - and I have no doubt that they will not hesitate to kill us, perhaps within a week or so of now if there is no response.”

Chandler urged the British gover-nment and his family to start talks with the pirates “so that perhaps our lives can be brought back”.

His voice broke slightly as he finished his statement, saying: “So please, somebody get in touch; otherwise we just sleepwalk to a tragic ending.”
In London, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said it was aware of the video, but added: “We do not make substantive concessions to hostage takers, including the payment of ransoms.

“These are innocent tourists... We seek the immediate release of Paul and Rachel.”

In her remarks to the video camera, Rachel said: “We are very concer-ned about the future... We are also feeling very much under threat now that these people themselves won’t hesitate to take our lives.”

It was not clear if their words had been scripted for them by the pirates.

Paul Chandler said he and his wife had been given adequate food and water and “are unharmed and in reasonably physical health” but “we are under great stress and threatened”.

The couple’s family released a statement saying they had seen the video.

“They miss them deeply and urge their release,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the 16 Spanish crew members of a tuna trawler held for more than a month by Somali pirates arrived in Madrid yesterday, the defence ministry said, as the skipper described being beaten during the ordeal.

The Alakrana crew members flew into a military base, a ministry spokeswoman said, after first travelling to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean after their release on Tuesday.

Government officials and journalists were not allowed to witness their arrival at the request of family members.

The pirate group that hijacked the ship on October 2 claimed $4 million had been paid for the release of the Alakrana and its 36 crew members. It would be one of the highest ransoms ever paid since Somali piracy surged in 2007.

The Spanish government has not confirmed it paid a ransom for their release.