Somali Pirates Demand $7M Ransom for UK Couple

The British couple abducted from their yacht at gunpoint are being held for $7 million ransom, a rep for the Somali pirates who kidnapped them said today. Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago in the Indian Ocean. "NATO operations had a lot of negative impact here," the unidentified man said in a call to the BBC. "When you consider the damage and all the people affected we say the amount is not big."

"If they do not harm us, we will not harm them," the caller said of the Chandlers, who are believed to be in good condition in Somalia.
(More Somalia stories.)