'Somali pirates seize yacht and take UK couple hostage'

Paul and Rachel Chandler, both in their fifties, were heading for Tanzania in their yacht the 'Lynn Rival' from the Seychelles, when they disappeared on Friday after firing a distress signal at 23:00 BST, the BBC reported. They were on a 150 nautical-mile passage south-west to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania - a route near Somali waters, which are notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats. The BBC reported that there had been pirate activity in the area earlier in the day. Various sources have said that this is Somali pirates have seized the yacht and taken the couple hostage. Reuters has for instance confirmed that it was contacted by a pirate called Hassan, who told the news agency: "The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean. The two captives were healthy and ransom demands will follow." In the meantime, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said there has been no confirmation what so ever whether the Chandlers have been taken hostage by Somali pirates. "We are in touch with the family in the UK and the Seychelles coastguards which continues to monitor the situation and has conducted a search of the area," she added. For the past decades, Somalia has been in a state of anarchy. Being ruled by war lords and insurgents, like Al-Shabaab, who last week vowed to attack the capitals of Burundi and Uganda as a retribution for alleged UN rocket attacks. These insurgents, who control large swathes of southern and central Somalia, want to bring back strict Islamic law to the country and as a result independent media outlets have been closed down or are operation under tough restrictions. At the moment, Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries to be, with several foreign aid workers being taken hostage over the past years. Earlier this year, three aid workers employed by the French organization Action Against Hunger that were kidnapped by Somali gunmen were released after three months. A month earlier, four aid workers of Action Against Hunger and two Kenyan pilots were released after they were taken hostage in January this year In the meantime pirates are 'harvesting' one ship after the other. It is estimated that these groups, which are armed to the teeth, have targeted over 130 merchant vessels in 2008 - 200 percent more then in 2007. According to calculations, Somalian pirates have made over 150 million USD in ransoms last year. In the meantime, the Somali people are suffering as a result of the political oppression, the conflict, and violence.