Captive (2016) s01e03 Episode Script
Taken at Sea, Somalia
1 [waves lapping.]
[woman.]
If you're out there and if you've got a pleasant wind there's nothing better.
[man.]
You can be in the tropical ocean, the deep blue water, and you know it's five or six miles deep beneath you.
I wanted to see Madagascar, and Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar and all the places I remember from school in the '50s with exciting names.
[man laughing.]
[man.]
We've been together 35 years.
We decided not to have kids.
[woman.]
Out on the open sea, that is for me when I feel my most free.
[radar beeping.]
[seagulls calling.]
[radar beeping.]
[Rachel.]
When we're passage-making, one of us needs to be on watch, keeping a good lookout.
Paul had gone off at midnight.
I was on deck, thinking about life, the universe, everything.
- I heard a small boat approaching fast.
- [engine revving in the distance.]
[gun fires.]
- [rapid gunfire.]
- [men yelling indistinctly.]
[Rachel.]
I realized that it was something horrible.
[men yelling indistinctly.]
[Rachel.]
I've never had guns pointed at me before.
Desperately trying to think through, "What can I do?" [alarm blaring.]
[telephone ringing.]
[man.]
It was half past 6:00 in the morning.
I assumed when a call came at that time of day that it was bad news.
I jumped out of bed and grabbed the phone.
I was very surprised to find my younger sister on the end.
She told me that the beacon had gone off on the boat.
Of course, my instant reaction was that the boat had been hit by a ship.
And there was little hope, in the middle of the ocean, of finding anybody.
[sirens wailing in distance.]
[man.]
The kidnap and ransom market in London is probably the biggest in the world.
By late autumn 2009, what we were seeing was waves of attacks in the Indian Ocean on primarily commercial vessels.
There was a story very quickly going around that there was a yacht where the, um, emergency beacon, as it's called, had gone off.
And I remember getting a call from one of my contacts from Somalia saying that the news here on the streets says that a yacht has been taken and it has two UK nationals on board.
[seagulls calling.]
[Paul.]
They started harassing us, making us give them money and jewelry and so on.
We thought that it was just a matter of hours or days, and they would go off, leave us.
But then the leader, he said his name was Buggas.
He said, "You motor sail boat back to Somalia.
" I was very frightened.
[man on TV.]
Coastguard's searching for a British couple feared kidnapped by Somali pirates, are investigating a possible sighting of their boat.
[tape fast-forwarding.]
[man.]
There was a phone call out of the blue into the newsroom to the UK bureau.
A British couple have been taken hostage by Somali pirates.
Right, okay.
So, calls to the MOD, calls to the Foreign Office.
"No, don't know anything about it.
Don't know what you're talking about.
" We needed to find the family and try to confirm the story from this tip-off from Mogadishu.
We got hold of the pirates' number through local journalists and contacts in Somalia.
Good evening.
Down a crackling phone line to the lawless coast of Somalia, News at Ten has made the first contact with the British couple kidnapped by pirates.
[Paul speaking.]
[Walker.]
It was a massive story for us.
It was a world exclusive.
They were an ordinary couple, if that's the right word.
They were from Tunbridge Wells.
That's the epitome of middle England, isn't it? They're living the dream, and they wake up in a nightmare.
[Walker on TV.]
Have your hostage takers demanded any ransom? [Paul speaking.]
[Paul.]
That was our first contact with the world since we'd been attacked.
And it was very reassuring to know that the outside world knew something about our position.
They must have known that we were in pirates' hands.
- A couple from Kent - [reporter.]
A couple feared captured by A gang of pirates [Paul.]
And I thought maybe, um, there was hope for us then.
[man on TV.]
A ransom demand for their release is expected any day now.
[Collett.]
We had this phone call to say ITN had got somebody on Paul's father's doorstep.
He was 98.
He was stone-deaf.
I straightaway rang ITN and said, "Whatever you do, do not knock on Paul's father's door.
But, you know, if you want, I'll come down.
" I'm a retired farmer.
To be dragged into this whirlwind of traveling up to London, dragged out of our shell in the country.
[indistinct announcements over PA.]
[Collett.]
It's all so dirty - and so crowded.
- [horns honking.]
My world was turned upside down.
[dog barks.]
[woman.]
I didn't sleep a lot.
Very, very worried that Paul and Rachel wouldn't get back home.
Paul is my uncle, and he's the only uncle I've got.
Well, my favorite uncle.
He's the uncle that I first went on a motorbike with, and I've never ever been on the back of a motorbike since! [laughing.]
Yeah, I love my uncle to bits.
Yeah.
We're not very close with Rachel's family.
Not very close at all.
I hadn't seen Rachel's family for at least 30 years.
Since their wedding.
They hadn't seen each other, let alone our side of the family, for quite a few years.
The challenges were to get to know each other as two separate families becoming one.
But also, I think, for their side of the family, it was getting to know each other as well.
When you're in that situation, you don't focus on anything else but the priority.
And the priority was to get Paul and Rachel home safely any way we could.
[seagulls calling.]
[Rachel.]
I knew that Somalia is a lawless country.
And the thought of being taken inland was horrific.
It was just a big unknown, a frightening unknown.
What was going to happen to us? [gun fires.]
[man on TV.]
Any rescue effort would be risky.
In April, a French military operation to free a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates resulted in the death of one of the hostages.
[phone dialing.]
[Walker.]
It took seven hours of trying to make contact, but we managed to get through to the Chandlers and made sure that Rachel had a chance to speak to her brother.
We think of you all the time.
[Rachel.]
I'm sure you do.
Please, try not to worry about us.
We're working to persuade the people that are releasing you.
We're appealing to their compassionate nature.
We know and you know that you're blameless tourists, and, you know, you have nothing of value to them.
[Rachel.]
That's right.
- We love you.
- [Rachel.]
I know.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
He and I have always been good friends but, um, not what you would call very, very close.
In that, um, I'm not especially close to any of my family.
[indistinct announcement over PA.]
[Rachel.]
But close enough I knew that Stephen would do whatever he could.
Stephen had no idea, clearly what he needed to do.
Just as we were in the deep end, he was in the deep end.
[Collett.]
As far as I was concerned, I thought getting the story out to the world was a good thing.
I'd assumed that these pirates would realize that a couple old English sailors weren't worth anything.
Of course, I was very wrong.
They're looking for anything which will increase the value of their hostages.
And publicity does that, dramatically.
[goats bleating.]
[Rachel.]
The worst thing about being captive is that you don't know what's planned for you.
You just have to exist.
Hour to hour, day to day.
[Paul.]
And I thought I can't even survive a few weeks like this.
I was beginning to feel angry.
I thought, "Well, why aren't negotiations happening?" [man on TV.]
It's what everyone was dreading.
The ransom demand.
And it is a shockingly high starting figure.
$7 million.
£4 million for their release.
Paul and Rachel Chandler from Tunbridge Wells, were taken hostage a week ago.
[man on TV.]
We asked Rachel's brother what's now likely to be on their minds.
I would suspect how they're going to raise the money to pay for ransom.
[man.]
It was quite clear from the early stages there was this mismatch about the perceived value that the pirates had in their hostages.
They had persuaded themselves that these were people who were going to make them millions in ransom, That clearly wasn't going to be the case.
Our position is absolutely clear.
The British government never makes substantive concessions to hostage-takers.
We do not pay, the government do not pay ransoms.
Because, of course, if we did that, there would be a risk that many more hostages would be taken in the future.
[Rob.]
It's not always an easy line.
It can be very painful.
There's no attempt to try to prevent the family doing what it needs to do to get someone released.
But it's not something that the government can get involved in.
[Collett.]
We had a meeting with the Foreign Office, and that was one of the most uncomfortable meetings.
They sat there as a very smug bunch.
We learned very quickly that we're not going to get an awful lot from them.
[man.]
At that stage, when Paul and Rachel were hijacked, we'd already resolved probably 20 or 30 Somali hijacking cases, so we had the expertise to deal with it.
We said very clearly, "We'll help if you want our help, but our involvement was to be confidential, and we don't want to be paid.
" We were very frank.
We said, "Look, you have basically, a short list of options to choose from.
You know, you can refuse to negotiate.
But actually, that's probably not a viable solution.
You can negotiate, but refuse to pay.
In Somalia, as a Muslim country, it has been tried, you know, you ask an imam to intervene, explain to the kidnappers that it's haram, it's forbidden under Islamic law.
But it's never worked.
Then the last option is to negotiate and pay a ransom.
And it's not a very appealing option.
But as a family where you have your loved ones in harm's way, um, you have a short list of unappealing options to select from.
- And you have to select one.
- [line ringing.]
- [man.]
Hello.
- [Collett.]
Hello? Hello, Ali? - Can you hear me? - [Ali.]
Yeah, I can hear you.
[Collett.]
Good.
Good.
[stuttering.]
I have to make it clear that I am the head of the family.
I am the only person who can bring a solution.
[Ali.]
Okay.
[Collett.]
We cannot negotiate in millions.
We must negotiate in thousands.
Do you understand this? [Ali.]
I understand but if you don't pay in that area it will be useless for them.
[Collett.]
Yes.
Yes.
We cannot negotiate in millions.
We must negotiate in thousands, because there is no insurance, there is no government.
Just me and the money that I can get for you.
[Collett.]
Some of the family strongly felt that a ransom shouldn't be paid.
Then others wanted to pay a ransom as quick as we could to get it all over.
I had fairly recently sold a farm.
And I said to my wife, "We will use this money as we need.
" I would be the negotiator as long as I was working with my money and my money alone.
[on recording.]
You do not agree with our small amount of 20,000, and we do not agree with your big amount of two million.
[Collett narrating.]
One trick the pirates always do is they throw you a bait.
We were told it would be, and it was, "If you pay us $100,000 quickly, you can have them out, just that.
" We were warned this was a trap.
Anyone who can lay their hands on $100,000 has obviously got a lot more money behind them.
[Collett on recording.]
You said $100,000, hmm? Why don't you give me a reduction? If you give me a reduction, we can negotiate.
[narrating.]
There's always this fear that perhaps if they were worthless, then they might as well shoot them.
[Rachel.]
Buggas told us we were going to make a video.
Basically, he told us, "Your family are not responding, and so you have to ask for money.
" They very much took the view that the British government would pay.
[Paul.]
This is our 27th day in captivity.
Our kidnappers are losing patience.
They are concerned that there has been no response at all to their demands for money.
So we ask the government and the people of Britain and our family to do whatever they can to enter into negotiations with these people to buy back our lives.
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.
So, please, somebody get in touch.
Otherwise, we just sleepwalk to a tragic ending.
[Leivers.]
When you're sat in a chair opposite people saying, "Well, we're not going to pay a ransom for your uncle and aunt to come back," then you start wondering why.
[chuckles.]
Um, and you certainly turn around to say, "You really need to pay ransoms, because I want my uncle and aunt back.
" [phone dialing.]
If you love somebody, you'd do anything you can.
[Collett on recording.]
Hello? Hello? - [Ali on recording.]
Hello.
- Hello, Ali? You cut the line on me again yesterday.
Hello? [narrating.]
This became a 24-hour job.
If Ali wanted to answer, he would.
If he didn't, he didn't.
[on recording.]
We've got to be real.
We've got to have a negotiation.
Hello? Hello? [sighs.]
Ali hung up.
[man.]
We are shocked and really deep in sorrow for what's happening to them.
We are sorry for the terrible time the family is going through.
[Walker.]
The interview was recorded by Universal TV.
The Somali station with studios in London is broadcasting weekly direct appeals to the pirates, urging the release of the Chandlers.
[man.]
People were ashamed, the Somali community in general.
Even my son who was a child at that time was feeling the shame.
He was telling everybody he was from Egypt.
[speaking Somali.]
[Abdisalam.]
The UK's hosting about 300,000 Somalis since the Somali Civil War started.
These people look after us, they gave us everything protection, more than anything else welfare.
And please, and please, and please, it's our turn to show that gratitude.
[boy.]
The Somali community in the UK are very disappointed by this and have a lot of sympathy for Paul and Rachel's families.
The Somali community is asking the men holding Paul and Rachel Chandler to release them.
[music playing.]
[all singing in Somali.]
These pirates are criminals.
They are armed gangs on the sea.
And those plotting attacks must be stopped, and those who have carried them out must be brought to justice.
[Abdisalam.]
Somalia is like the Wild West.
You're talking about a population of ten million or 11 million, and the vast majority are under 30 years old.
And they have nothing.
Most of them came from broken families because of the civil war.
[gunfire.]
Since the collapse of the central government of Somalia, there was a large number of ships, mainly from Europe and Asia, going to Somali seas to do illegal fishing.
These ships were looting $500 million US every year.
The Somali pirates, this is their way of taking revenge.
Later on, it became business because these guys were getting millions and millions for ransom.
So it became a job.
[woman on radio.]
So far this year, pirates have struck over 300 times.
It's big business and a growing threat.
[man on radio.]
The Met Office confirmed that it is officially a white Christmas, the first since 2004.
[announcer.]
BBC Radio 4.
[bells tolling.]
[Paul.]
"Absolutely no sign of anything happening.
We focus on the act of existing.
Live the routines.
Get up when it gets too hot and sticky to lie in bed.
Hair wash in a bowl, on alternate days only, of course.
Save water for washing up.
Make tea in flask, which Ali has left by the door.
Use alen, the Somali substitute for tea.
It's fibrous and turns the water brown, but I'm sure it's not related to the tea plant.
Add a little sugar.
Find a chair outside.
The guards will have used it overnight.
Ali brings chapati.
Put half aside for teatime snack.
" It sounds idyllic, doesn't it? "My mantra, last thing before sleep 'I love you.
Another day nearer release.
'" [sirens blaring.]
[Askins.]
How do you speed up the process? What are the levers here to try and force a negotiation to go more quickly? Talking to Stephen, that was the big frustration.
What were the levers? The pirates were operating almost in a perfect negotiating environment.
They were never going to be bothered by law enforcement There was no real prospects of a military intervention.
No one was knocking at their doors at five o'clock in the morning.
No one was really looking for them.
The only leverage you had was time.
[man.]
There are no certainties and, you know, some kidnappings don't end well.
It's important for the family to understand who it is they're negotiating with.
They're not negotiating with people with morals.
They're negotiating with extortionists, people who kidnap, who mistreat, who sometimes torture people.
Scumbags.
[speaking Somali.]
[Paul.]
Buggas came and said, "Stephen no speak, no money.
No money, you dead.
" And he tried to grab Rachel.
Paul? Paul? - [Buggas.]
One stay, one go.
- No, we're staying here together.
One stay, one go! [Paul.]
And then he walked away pulled a tree root out of the ground.
[Paul.]
No, no, no.
Wait a minute.
[Rachel.]
Paul? No, let go.
Let go.
Let her go.
And then he started whipping us with this tree root.
[Rachel.]
We really thought this was the end.
Then he he got his gun.
[Paul.]
I tried to hold on as long as I could.
He pulled us apart.
And I saw Rachel lying on the ground, and Buggas was, um, hitting her in the face with the butt of his gun.
You're just completely helpless if you've got two big men pulling you away.
I suppose I just started crying.
Sat in the back of the car and cried.
[indistinct chatter.]
[goat bleating.]
[goat bleating.]
[Rachel.]
I was just utterly distraught.
You know, I thought my life was coming to an end.
[Paul.]
Most of our life together, we've not been apart for more than a couple of nights.
It's just devastating when you're forcibly separated.
I always keep my emotions tightly contained.
It's not true that people who don't show emotion aren't experiencing them.
That's absolutely not true.
And I more or less completely blanked off the outside world.
I wouldn't think back to our home, to holidays, to people, or anything like that.
Perhaps because I was frightened it would push me over the edge.
[woman on TV.]
The British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates have issued an urgent plea for help and said they're being cruelly treated by their captors.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, who've been held hostage for 100 days, and are now kept apart, were seen looking gaunt and distressed as they begged the government to step in.
They made their feelings known in video footage taken as a doctor was allowed to examine them.
- I need to be with Paul.
- [man.]
Yes.
[Rachel.]
We have always been together.
We are not young people.
I don't know what else I can say.
Just please, please help us.
Please.
[indistinct chatter.]
[Walker.]
The pirates are very keen for coverage.
That's part of their strategy, to try to keep the story in the public eye.
There were a number of times we had phone calls.
I'd be putting the kids to bed sometimes and the phone would go and it would be the pirates.
It was surreal, going into a coffee shop and saying, you know, "Hold on, one latte please," and then back to the Somali pirates.
You have to be aware that you're being manipulated.
They were trying to order us to do things.
"You must put this video on, You must report we're gonna behead the hostages if this money is not paid.
" The only thing we can do is just stick to the pure journalistic values, which is, "Is this news?" [Rachel on recording.]
They've told me that f they don't get the money within four or five days, they'll kill one of us.
Please, please find find a way of helping us, because it really is a very desperate situation here.
[Collett on recording.]
We're working for you 24/7, I promise.
[Paul.]
Please, just make them an offer.
We must put all our money on the table.
I have said that our money would be maybe 300,000.
And with a bit of help from my father, they might possibly expect half a million.
[Collett.]
Paul, you're not helping.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to sound hard but, yeah, it's not helping, you joining in the negotiations.
[Paul.]
But if they have another silly offer, or what they think of as a silly offer, they will beat us again, and I don't think we can stand it much longer.
Do you understand, Stephen? [Collett stuttering.]
We are doing our best.
You know, keep keep something to occupy your mind.
Try practicing your Greek or something like that, you know? Because anything which exercises your mind would help.
[Paul.]
I know, but 24 hours a day, and everything I think of makes me think of Rachel.
[vehicle approaching.]
[Rachel.]
"Friday, 26th February.
Freedom is not having armed delinquent guards around you 24 hours a day.
Not living in fear of the next onslaught from Buggas.
Not having to beg for water.
Not feeling that death would be a release.
I'm finished.
Sick, sick, sick of these vile people.
I need to be in peace, and I will have peace.
Dearest Paul, I love you lots and lots, and always will but I'm feeling very suicidal now and don't know how long I can carry on.
If I don't make it out of here, I want you to know that I don't want you to grieve for me, or be bitter about what has happened.
Please get on with rebuilding your life and planning for future happiness.
We've had a wonderful time together and I don't regret a thing.
" [Leivers.]
They could have done anything other than separate them.
But not to have them together was the hardest thing.
[seagulls calling.]
[Collett on recording.]
Ali, I thought we could work together.
You're just talking crazy numbers.
Come on, we're not making any sense here.
[narrating.]
My wife was always very, very supportive, but she found it very difficult living with me.
I was, um Got very short-tempered, very depressed.
I was a very difficult person to live with for a long time.
[on recording.]
This is not bullshit money.
Do you understand how hard it is to get this? All I want is for my sister and her husband to be free.
[Paul.]
I composed a couple of crosswords specially for Rachel for a birthday treat.
And I thought I'd done a brilliant job.
I said, "These books to go to Rachel.
" So we could swap books.
And with the books, I put in my two crosswords.
And he said, "Okay, no problem.
" And he disappeared.
I didn't even know whether they would get to Rachel.
But it was about 40 minutes later, he came back in with a bag and gave it back to me.
And I thought, "Oh.
" [Rachel.]
When I got the parcel, that was absolutely wonderful.
I was not only delighted, but I thought, "I must send him some books back.
" I looked inside and it was different books.
[laughs.]
And then I knew Rachel wasn't very far away.
[Rachel gasps.]
[Rachel.]
After three months apart, I noticed how thin, how drawn he looked.
But he was walking.
[chuckling.]
He was he was alive.
It was such a relief.
We thought it was just a matter of weeks now, because why would they bring us together if they weren't going to to release us? [men singing in Arabic.]
- [rocket whooshes.]
- [gunfire.]
[Paul.]
We were aware from the World Service that Al-Shabaab were living up to their terrorist ideas.
They didn't control the area the pirates were based in, but the pirates could always frighten us by saying, "Al-Shabaab are coming.
They want to capture you.
" And that really did make us afraid.
[woman.]
The person you are calling is unable to take your call.
Please leave your message after the tone.
To re-record your message, key hash at any time.
[phone beeps.]
[Ali on phone.]
Stephen, this is Ali from Somalia.
Uh, Stephen, we agree to take 440,000 because there is quick action, there is an emergency.
There is an Islamic group close to us.
That's why we cannot wait ten days or five days.
We need you to call me an emergency.
So, we want you to call us quick.
[woman.]
Press "2" to repeat, "3" to delete, "5-5" to call back.
[Collett on recording.]
Hello? Hello, Ali? - [Ali.]
Yes.
- Yes.
[Collett.]
Ali, I'm very pleased the deal is now at 440,000, but I'm worried about this emergency problem.
We do not want to pay you, and then you say you can't release Paul and Rachel, because they've been taken by the other group.
That's very dangerous for all of us.
[Ali.]
We do not cheat anybody.
Uh, we have a representative in Kenya.
We can send our man, and he hands over the money.
And that's okay.
- [Collett.]
Hello, Rachel.
- Hello? Hello, Stephen! [Collett.]
You must stay calm, and do everything that the pirates ask you to do.
[Rachel.]
Okay, thank you so much for everything you've done, Stephen.
[Collett.]
Don't worry.
Keep calm.
'Cause it's very close now.
[Leivers.]
The plan was, I was going to go out there.
The money was going to be going up in a plane.
We were going to drop off.
The pirates would hand over Paul and Rachel, and then I would meet them at Nairobi.
I was asked by the High Commission, "What would Paul and Rachel like to eat?" Now, Paul and Rachel might not have liked to eat this, but I certainly do.
And I said, "A good old bangers and mash.
Mashed potato, onion gravy, peas and sausages.
" That's my favorite meal.
I thought, well, that's typically English.
You could feel that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
And we thought, "Yes, this is gonna happen.
" [indistinct chatter.]
[Rachel.]
We were incredibly excited.
We were we were ready to go.
Some of the gang were giving us their mobile phone numbers saying, "Call when you get to Britain.
" Some of them were saying, "Take me with you.
" Everybody was excited.
Everybody was pleased.
I mean, the gang members because they were going to get their money.
So, everything seemed right.
This surely was the end of it.
- [Paul on recording.]
Hello? - [Collett.]
Hello, Paul.
I have to speak to both of you, that's the thing.
Um, now our plane is delivering the money.
It's flying towards you.
It will arrive in about three hours.
- About - [Paul.]
Three hours, yes.
[Collett.]
It's delivering the money in three hours' time.
This is to confirm that you're both still safe and well before we make the final payment.
[Paul.]
Yes.
- Yes, we're safe and well.
- [airplane humming.]
- [phone beeps.]
- [Ali on recording.]
Yes, hello? [Collett.]
Ah, hello.
Have you collected the money? [Ali.]
Yes, it has dropped.
[Collett.]
Good.
You must call me when you have counted it.
[Ali.]
Okay.
[Walker.]
People were sitting around in Nairobi, camera crews and journalists, waiting for something to happen.
Then nothing.
It just went quiet.
Radio silence.
[phone pad beeping.]
[line ringing.]
[Collett on recording.]
Ali? Ali? Listen, Ali.
You need to listen to what I have to say.
The family have done everything that you asked us to do.
We've now spent all our money to rescue Paul and Rachel.
There is no more money left.
No more money! [Ali speaking indistinctly.]
[Collett.]
No! - [Ali continues indistinctly.]
- We won't You're lying, cheating You're lying, cheating scum, Ali.
We'll never trust you again, nor will anyone else.
[Leivers.]
There's no words really to describe it apart from it feels like drowning.
Like drowning.
What did we do wrong? Are Paul and Rachel still okay? And so it was a very, very sad flight back home.
Very sad flight back home.
[phone pad beeping.]
[Collett.]
We were obviously very upset, very despondent.
I mean, I'd just chucked away a lot of my money.
We can't believe it anymore.
We think they just want to keep us here.
God knows why.
Their God certainly doesn't.
These fellows don't give a damn.
They really don't think we deserve to have a family.
They're bastards! - They don't - Don't cut that out.
[Rachel.]
It's the worst possible outcome you could ever imagine.
Where do we go from there? They've got our money and they haven't let us go.
What are they doing to do with us? [call to prayer heard in distance.]
[man speaking Somali.]
I felt it was awful, what had happened.
I felt something needed to be done.
I found out that the couple were being held in central Somalia.
Fortunately, I am originally from that area, so are my family, who are well known.
The people in that area are mainly my clan.
It felt it was essential to do something, both for the British people and the Somalis back home.
My name is Dahir.
I didn't tell my family about my mission because I didn't want them to worry about me.
I was frightened that if the pirates found out what I was doing, they would kill the hostages.
[speaks English.]
Top secret.
[man speaking indistinctly on TV.]
[woman on TV.]
It is exactly a year since Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
The couple from Kent were taken to the Somali mainland where they continue to be held.
[woman on TV.]
I think that you've completely lost your mind.
[men laughing hysterically.]
[Paul.]
Life just seemed to go on, and I thought we were just abandoned at that stage.
- I didn't think we had any worth.
- [TV continues playing.]
I still couldn't understand why negotiation wasn't going on.
There was still a deal to be done.
Something had to be done.
Somebody had to speak to somebody.
[Collett on recording.]
Who am I speaking to, please? Yeah, I am Dahir.
Welcome, Stephen.
I am from London East London.
I am Somali-British.
- Uh, Stephen - Yes? [Kadiye.]
On behalf of the Somali diaspora, I am trying my best to release those two innocent persons.
[speaking Somali.]
I could feel how worried he was.
He asked me if I had seen the couple.
I told him no, which was the truth.
He asked me how it was going.
I said, "I'm very hopeful.
" [Collett on recording.]
Does your plan involve money? [Kadiye.]
No, I don't need money now.
Already I spoke to the hijackers.
I'm pushing to them to release the people without ransom.
[narrating in Somali.]
I was in talks with community groups that I had set up.
I reminded them of a proverb that they know "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
" It helped me explain to them, half a million Somalis live in Britain and get financial support.
Would you like it if the people who look after that huge community would you like their fathers and mothers and friends to be killed in your country? The answer is no.
[Kadiye on recording.]
I'm flying after tomorrow to their place.
[Collett.]
Do you think you will bring Rachel and Paul back? [Kadiye.]
Yeah.
We will come back together, inshallah.
[Collett.]
All I knew about Dahir was that he'd one time been a taxi driver.
He'd been a refugee from Somalia.
But, um, we had no reason to think Dahir would deliver.
[Kadiye speaking Somali.]
I asked the clan if I could go to see the couple that evening.
The pirates imposed conditions.
They said, "Bring him, but he must come without a watch, phone, walkie-talkie or gun, and he must come alone.
Be there at ten o'clock in the evening.
" It was the most frightening moment of my life.
[man yelling indistinctly.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[line beeps.]
- [Kadiye.]
Hello, Stephen? - Hello.
[Kadiye.]
How's the rest of your family? How are they? [Collett.]
Well, they're getting excited, but they're equally worried in case things go wrong, because this sort of thing has We thought we were here before.
[Kadiye.]
I have picked the meeting place.
I am expecting them to arrive here within half an hour or one hour more.
Yeah, I can see them where they are, but still, I can't talk to them.
I looked up and there was a chap striding towards me holding a British passport in his hand.
[chuckles.]
And he said, "I'm Dahir.
I've come to take you home.
" [chuckles.]
He said, "I'm Dahir.
I'm from Leytonstone.
I've come to take you home.
" And he hugged me [laughs.]
and then he hugged Rachel.
And it was a magic moment.
It really was.
[Dahir speaks Somali.]
We cried and held each other.
[breath trembling.]
[speaks English.]
What do you feel? It feels good, but you must understand that until we are out of this country - [Dahir.]
Mm-hmm.
- we're not free.
[woman.]
In the end, why do you think the pirates released them? [Dahir speaks Somali.]
I know for a fact, they realized they wouldn't achieve their aims.
So they were like a fish who runs out of water.
[Collett.]
I'd gone to bed and, um, the phone rang at about 3:00 in the morning, I think.
It was Rachel.
[chuckles.]
[Rachel on recording.]
Thank you, Stephen, for everything.
And we'll speak to you as soon as we can.
- [Collett.]
We love you lots.
- [Rachel.]
Okay, bye-bye.
- [Collett.]
Bye.
- Thank you.
Yeah.
Bye.
[Collett.]
Bye.
[inaudible.]
[Collett.]
Finally, uh Yes, they were they were free.
So, uh, that was good.
Happy to be alive, happy to be free, happy to be here, and desperate to see our family and friends.
[man.]
I think it was about 5:00 or 6:00 a.
m.
, there was video footage showing Paul and Rachel, and they're alive.
And of course, we're just all extremely relieved that after 13 months of all the work, and all the investment and everything the family had done it looked like they're on their way home.
I gave them so, so big a hug.
So big a hug.
They were there, and you could think, "Yes, I can sleep tonight 'cause they're only next door.
" [laughs.]
Then Rob Macaire, the High Commissioner, said, "What would you like for breakfast in the morning?" "Sausage, bacon and eggs, please.
" [laughing.]
And we tried to get used to soft beds, and toiletries and showers.
And, of course, the media.
- [indistinct chatter.]
- [car alarm blaring.]
[Walker.]
Paul, Rachel, it's Angus Walker! I sent you the backgammon set and Somali phrasebook.
Can you do three questions for me? Make my day as happy as yours, please.
It was the first time I'd actually seen them, for real.
You know, I'd seen them on video.
I'd spoken to them on the phone numerous occasions over the months, but this was the first time I saw them.
And I was, you know, personally, really, really happy for them.
[Angus.]
We won't leave.
[narrating.]
And then it was a case of getting on the same plane as them, the plane that would fly them back to the UK.
They were kept separate from us.
What I had done was send a bottle of champagne back through the curtain, and Paul came out and shared a glass of champagne with us.
It was great to see him, have a chat.
And he was joking.
You know, again, he was this guy who was able to apparently laugh it off.
And he was dismayed that he hadn't got an exit stamp, a Somali exit stamp, in his passport to show off.
And then when we landed at Heathrow, they were taken out first.
We waved, they waved, and that was it, they were back in the UK.
[Collett.]
They came back off the plane like they just had a week in Portugal or somewhere.
Very brown of course.
[laughing.]
[Rachel.]
It definitely strengthened our relationship.
We experienced the most horrendous thing together, and we pulled through it together.
And we recovered from it together.
[Paul.]
I think, what I take from the whole thing is that the freedom that we have in our Western civilization is priceless, absolutely priceless.
I think we collectively We take it for granted.
And I think we need to be aware of that.
And we both value each other, of course, and life, every day.
You know, every day is a bonus.
Many families are torn apart by this experience, and, uh I think we were lucky not being close in the first place.
You know, we we reverted to type afterwards.
[chuckles.]
[somber music playing.]
[woman.]
If you're out there and if you've got a pleasant wind there's nothing better.
[man.]
You can be in the tropical ocean, the deep blue water, and you know it's five or six miles deep beneath you.
I wanted to see Madagascar, and Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar and all the places I remember from school in the '50s with exciting names.
[man laughing.]
[man.]
We've been together 35 years.
We decided not to have kids.
[woman.]
Out on the open sea, that is for me when I feel my most free.
[radar beeping.]
[seagulls calling.]
[radar beeping.]
[Rachel.]
When we're passage-making, one of us needs to be on watch, keeping a good lookout.
Paul had gone off at midnight.
I was on deck, thinking about life, the universe, everything.
- I heard a small boat approaching fast.
- [engine revving in the distance.]
[gun fires.]
- [rapid gunfire.]
- [men yelling indistinctly.]
[Rachel.]
I realized that it was something horrible.
[men yelling indistinctly.]
[Rachel.]
I've never had guns pointed at me before.
Desperately trying to think through, "What can I do?" [alarm blaring.]
[telephone ringing.]
[man.]
It was half past 6:00 in the morning.
I assumed when a call came at that time of day that it was bad news.
I jumped out of bed and grabbed the phone.
I was very surprised to find my younger sister on the end.
She told me that the beacon had gone off on the boat.
Of course, my instant reaction was that the boat had been hit by a ship.
And there was little hope, in the middle of the ocean, of finding anybody.
[sirens wailing in distance.]
[man.]
The kidnap and ransom market in London is probably the biggest in the world.
By late autumn 2009, what we were seeing was waves of attacks in the Indian Ocean on primarily commercial vessels.
There was a story very quickly going around that there was a yacht where the, um, emergency beacon, as it's called, had gone off.
And I remember getting a call from one of my contacts from Somalia saying that the news here on the streets says that a yacht has been taken and it has two UK nationals on board.
[seagulls calling.]
[Paul.]
They started harassing us, making us give them money and jewelry and so on.
We thought that it was just a matter of hours or days, and they would go off, leave us.
But then the leader, he said his name was Buggas.
He said, "You motor sail boat back to Somalia.
" I was very frightened.
[man on TV.]
Coastguard's searching for a British couple feared kidnapped by Somali pirates, are investigating a possible sighting of their boat.
[tape fast-forwarding.]
[man.]
There was a phone call out of the blue into the newsroom to the UK bureau.
A British couple have been taken hostage by Somali pirates.
Right, okay.
So, calls to the MOD, calls to the Foreign Office.
"No, don't know anything about it.
Don't know what you're talking about.
" We needed to find the family and try to confirm the story from this tip-off from Mogadishu.
We got hold of the pirates' number through local journalists and contacts in Somalia.
Good evening.
Down a crackling phone line to the lawless coast of Somalia, News at Ten has made the first contact with the British couple kidnapped by pirates.
[Paul speaking.]
[Walker.]
It was a massive story for us.
It was a world exclusive.
They were an ordinary couple, if that's the right word.
They were from Tunbridge Wells.
That's the epitome of middle England, isn't it? They're living the dream, and they wake up in a nightmare.
[Walker on TV.]
Have your hostage takers demanded any ransom? [Paul speaking.]
[Paul.]
That was our first contact with the world since we'd been attacked.
And it was very reassuring to know that the outside world knew something about our position.
They must have known that we were in pirates' hands.
- A couple from Kent - [reporter.]
A couple feared captured by A gang of pirates [Paul.]
And I thought maybe, um, there was hope for us then.
[man on TV.]
A ransom demand for their release is expected any day now.
[Collett.]
We had this phone call to say ITN had got somebody on Paul's father's doorstep.
He was 98.
He was stone-deaf.
I straightaway rang ITN and said, "Whatever you do, do not knock on Paul's father's door.
But, you know, if you want, I'll come down.
" I'm a retired farmer.
To be dragged into this whirlwind of traveling up to London, dragged out of our shell in the country.
[indistinct announcements over PA.]
[Collett.]
It's all so dirty - and so crowded.
- [horns honking.]
My world was turned upside down.
[dog barks.]
[woman.]
I didn't sleep a lot.
Very, very worried that Paul and Rachel wouldn't get back home.
Paul is my uncle, and he's the only uncle I've got.
Well, my favorite uncle.
He's the uncle that I first went on a motorbike with, and I've never ever been on the back of a motorbike since! [laughing.]
Yeah, I love my uncle to bits.
Yeah.
We're not very close with Rachel's family.
Not very close at all.
I hadn't seen Rachel's family for at least 30 years.
Since their wedding.
They hadn't seen each other, let alone our side of the family, for quite a few years.
The challenges were to get to know each other as two separate families becoming one.
But also, I think, for their side of the family, it was getting to know each other as well.
When you're in that situation, you don't focus on anything else but the priority.
And the priority was to get Paul and Rachel home safely any way we could.
[seagulls calling.]
[Rachel.]
I knew that Somalia is a lawless country.
And the thought of being taken inland was horrific.
It was just a big unknown, a frightening unknown.
What was going to happen to us? [gun fires.]
[man on TV.]
Any rescue effort would be risky.
In April, a French military operation to free a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates resulted in the death of one of the hostages.
[phone dialing.]
[Walker.]
It took seven hours of trying to make contact, but we managed to get through to the Chandlers and made sure that Rachel had a chance to speak to her brother.
We think of you all the time.
[Rachel.]
I'm sure you do.
Please, try not to worry about us.
We're working to persuade the people that are releasing you.
We're appealing to their compassionate nature.
We know and you know that you're blameless tourists, and, you know, you have nothing of value to them.
[Rachel.]
That's right.
- We love you.
- [Rachel.]
I know.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
He and I have always been good friends but, um, not what you would call very, very close.
In that, um, I'm not especially close to any of my family.
[indistinct announcement over PA.]
[Rachel.]
But close enough I knew that Stephen would do whatever he could.
Stephen had no idea, clearly what he needed to do.
Just as we were in the deep end, he was in the deep end.
[Collett.]
As far as I was concerned, I thought getting the story out to the world was a good thing.
I'd assumed that these pirates would realize that a couple old English sailors weren't worth anything.
Of course, I was very wrong.
They're looking for anything which will increase the value of their hostages.
And publicity does that, dramatically.
[goats bleating.]
[Rachel.]
The worst thing about being captive is that you don't know what's planned for you.
You just have to exist.
Hour to hour, day to day.
[Paul.]
And I thought I can't even survive a few weeks like this.
I was beginning to feel angry.
I thought, "Well, why aren't negotiations happening?" [man on TV.]
It's what everyone was dreading.
The ransom demand.
And it is a shockingly high starting figure.
$7 million.
£4 million for their release.
Paul and Rachel Chandler from Tunbridge Wells, were taken hostage a week ago.
[man on TV.]
We asked Rachel's brother what's now likely to be on their minds.
I would suspect how they're going to raise the money to pay for ransom.
[man.]
It was quite clear from the early stages there was this mismatch about the perceived value that the pirates had in their hostages.
They had persuaded themselves that these were people who were going to make them millions in ransom, That clearly wasn't going to be the case.
Our position is absolutely clear.
The British government never makes substantive concessions to hostage-takers.
We do not pay, the government do not pay ransoms.
Because, of course, if we did that, there would be a risk that many more hostages would be taken in the future.
[Rob.]
It's not always an easy line.
It can be very painful.
There's no attempt to try to prevent the family doing what it needs to do to get someone released.
But it's not something that the government can get involved in.
[Collett.]
We had a meeting with the Foreign Office, and that was one of the most uncomfortable meetings.
They sat there as a very smug bunch.
We learned very quickly that we're not going to get an awful lot from them.
[man.]
At that stage, when Paul and Rachel were hijacked, we'd already resolved probably 20 or 30 Somali hijacking cases, so we had the expertise to deal with it.
We said very clearly, "We'll help if you want our help, but our involvement was to be confidential, and we don't want to be paid.
" We were very frank.
We said, "Look, you have basically, a short list of options to choose from.
You know, you can refuse to negotiate.
But actually, that's probably not a viable solution.
You can negotiate, but refuse to pay.
In Somalia, as a Muslim country, it has been tried, you know, you ask an imam to intervene, explain to the kidnappers that it's haram, it's forbidden under Islamic law.
But it's never worked.
Then the last option is to negotiate and pay a ransom.
And it's not a very appealing option.
But as a family where you have your loved ones in harm's way, um, you have a short list of unappealing options to select from.
- And you have to select one.
- [line ringing.]
- [man.]
Hello.
- [Collett.]
Hello? Hello, Ali? - Can you hear me? - [Ali.]
Yeah, I can hear you.
[Collett.]
Good.
Good.
[stuttering.]
I have to make it clear that I am the head of the family.
I am the only person who can bring a solution.
[Ali.]
Okay.
[Collett.]
We cannot negotiate in millions.
We must negotiate in thousands.
Do you understand this? [Ali.]
I understand but if you don't pay in that area it will be useless for them.
[Collett.]
Yes.
Yes.
We cannot negotiate in millions.
We must negotiate in thousands, because there is no insurance, there is no government.
Just me and the money that I can get for you.
[Collett.]
Some of the family strongly felt that a ransom shouldn't be paid.
Then others wanted to pay a ransom as quick as we could to get it all over.
I had fairly recently sold a farm.
And I said to my wife, "We will use this money as we need.
" I would be the negotiator as long as I was working with my money and my money alone.
[on recording.]
You do not agree with our small amount of 20,000, and we do not agree with your big amount of two million.
[Collett narrating.]
One trick the pirates always do is they throw you a bait.
We were told it would be, and it was, "If you pay us $100,000 quickly, you can have them out, just that.
" We were warned this was a trap.
Anyone who can lay their hands on $100,000 has obviously got a lot more money behind them.
[Collett on recording.]
You said $100,000, hmm? Why don't you give me a reduction? If you give me a reduction, we can negotiate.
[narrating.]
There's always this fear that perhaps if they were worthless, then they might as well shoot them.
[Rachel.]
Buggas told us we were going to make a video.
Basically, he told us, "Your family are not responding, and so you have to ask for money.
" They very much took the view that the British government would pay.
[Paul.]
This is our 27th day in captivity.
Our kidnappers are losing patience.
They are concerned that there has been no response at all to their demands for money.
So we ask the government and the people of Britain and our family to do whatever they can to enter into negotiations with these people to buy back our lives.
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.
So, please, somebody get in touch.
Otherwise, we just sleepwalk to a tragic ending.
[Leivers.]
When you're sat in a chair opposite people saying, "Well, we're not going to pay a ransom for your uncle and aunt to come back," then you start wondering why.
[chuckles.]
Um, and you certainly turn around to say, "You really need to pay ransoms, because I want my uncle and aunt back.
" [phone dialing.]
If you love somebody, you'd do anything you can.
[Collett on recording.]
Hello? Hello? - [Ali on recording.]
Hello.
- Hello, Ali? You cut the line on me again yesterday.
Hello? [narrating.]
This became a 24-hour job.
If Ali wanted to answer, he would.
If he didn't, he didn't.
[on recording.]
We've got to be real.
We've got to have a negotiation.
Hello? Hello? [sighs.]
Ali hung up.
[man.]
We are shocked and really deep in sorrow for what's happening to them.
We are sorry for the terrible time the family is going through.
[Walker.]
The interview was recorded by Universal TV.
The Somali station with studios in London is broadcasting weekly direct appeals to the pirates, urging the release of the Chandlers.
[man.]
People were ashamed, the Somali community in general.
Even my son who was a child at that time was feeling the shame.
He was telling everybody he was from Egypt.
[speaking Somali.]
[Abdisalam.]
The UK's hosting about 300,000 Somalis since the Somali Civil War started.
These people look after us, they gave us everything protection, more than anything else welfare.
And please, and please, and please, it's our turn to show that gratitude.
[boy.]
The Somali community in the UK are very disappointed by this and have a lot of sympathy for Paul and Rachel's families.
The Somali community is asking the men holding Paul and Rachel Chandler to release them.
[music playing.]
[all singing in Somali.]
These pirates are criminals.
They are armed gangs on the sea.
And those plotting attacks must be stopped, and those who have carried them out must be brought to justice.
[Abdisalam.]
Somalia is like the Wild West.
You're talking about a population of ten million or 11 million, and the vast majority are under 30 years old.
And they have nothing.
Most of them came from broken families because of the civil war.
[gunfire.]
Since the collapse of the central government of Somalia, there was a large number of ships, mainly from Europe and Asia, going to Somali seas to do illegal fishing.
These ships were looting $500 million US every year.
The Somali pirates, this is their way of taking revenge.
Later on, it became business because these guys were getting millions and millions for ransom.
So it became a job.
[woman on radio.]
So far this year, pirates have struck over 300 times.
It's big business and a growing threat.
[man on radio.]
The Met Office confirmed that it is officially a white Christmas, the first since 2004.
[announcer.]
BBC Radio 4.
[bells tolling.]
[Paul.]
"Absolutely no sign of anything happening.
We focus on the act of existing.
Live the routines.
Get up when it gets too hot and sticky to lie in bed.
Hair wash in a bowl, on alternate days only, of course.
Save water for washing up.
Make tea in flask, which Ali has left by the door.
Use alen, the Somali substitute for tea.
It's fibrous and turns the water brown, but I'm sure it's not related to the tea plant.
Add a little sugar.
Find a chair outside.
The guards will have used it overnight.
Ali brings chapati.
Put half aside for teatime snack.
" It sounds idyllic, doesn't it? "My mantra, last thing before sleep 'I love you.
Another day nearer release.
'" [sirens blaring.]
[Askins.]
How do you speed up the process? What are the levers here to try and force a negotiation to go more quickly? Talking to Stephen, that was the big frustration.
What were the levers? The pirates were operating almost in a perfect negotiating environment.
They were never going to be bothered by law enforcement There was no real prospects of a military intervention.
No one was knocking at their doors at five o'clock in the morning.
No one was really looking for them.
The only leverage you had was time.
[man.]
There are no certainties and, you know, some kidnappings don't end well.
It's important for the family to understand who it is they're negotiating with.
They're not negotiating with people with morals.
They're negotiating with extortionists, people who kidnap, who mistreat, who sometimes torture people.
Scumbags.
[speaking Somali.]
[Paul.]
Buggas came and said, "Stephen no speak, no money.
No money, you dead.
" And he tried to grab Rachel.
Paul? Paul? - [Buggas.]
One stay, one go.
- No, we're staying here together.
One stay, one go! [Paul.]
And then he walked away pulled a tree root out of the ground.
[Paul.]
No, no, no.
Wait a minute.
[Rachel.]
Paul? No, let go.
Let go.
Let her go.
And then he started whipping us with this tree root.
[Rachel.]
We really thought this was the end.
Then he he got his gun.
[Paul.]
I tried to hold on as long as I could.
He pulled us apart.
And I saw Rachel lying on the ground, and Buggas was, um, hitting her in the face with the butt of his gun.
You're just completely helpless if you've got two big men pulling you away.
I suppose I just started crying.
Sat in the back of the car and cried.
[indistinct chatter.]
[goat bleating.]
[goat bleating.]
[Rachel.]
I was just utterly distraught.
You know, I thought my life was coming to an end.
[Paul.]
Most of our life together, we've not been apart for more than a couple of nights.
It's just devastating when you're forcibly separated.
I always keep my emotions tightly contained.
It's not true that people who don't show emotion aren't experiencing them.
That's absolutely not true.
And I more or less completely blanked off the outside world.
I wouldn't think back to our home, to holidays, to people, or anything like that.
Perhaps because I was frightened it would push me over the edge.
[woman on TV.]
The British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates have issued an urgent plea for help and said they're being cruelly treated by their captors.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, who've been held hostage for 100 days, and are now kept apart, were seen looking gaunt and distressed as they begged the government to step in.
They made their feelings known in video footage taken as a doctor was allowed to examine them.
- I need to be with Paul.
- [man.]
Yes.
[Rachel.]
We have always been together.
We are not young people.
I don't know what else I can say.
Just please, please help us.
Please.
[indistinct chatter.]
[Walker.]
The pirates are very keen for coverage.
That's part of their strategy, to try to keep the story in the public eye.
There were a number of times we had phone calls.
I'd be putting the kids to bed sometimes and the phone would go and it would be the pirates.
It was surreal, going into a coffee shop and saying, you know, "Hold on, one latte please," and then back to the Somali pirates.
You have to be aware that you're being manipulated.
They were trying to order us to do things.
"You must put this video on, You must report we're gonna behead the hostages if this money is not paid.
" The only thing we can do is just stick to the pure journalistic values, which is, "Is this news?" [Rachel on recording.]
They've told me that f they don't get the money within four or five days, they'll kill one of us.
Please, please find find a way of helping us, because it really is a very desperate situation here.
[Collett on recording.]
We're working for you 24/7, I promise.
[Paul.]
Please, just make them an offer.
We must put all our money on the table.
I have said that our money would be maybe 300,000.
And with a bit of help from my father, they might possibly expect half a million.
[Collett.]
Paul, you're not helping.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to sound hard but, yeah, it's not helping, you joining in the negotiations.
[Paul.]
But if they have another silly offer, or what they think of as a silly offer, they will beat us again, and I don't think we can stand it much longer.
Do you understand, Stephen? [Collett stuttering.]
We are doing our best.
You know, keep keep something to occupy your mind.
Try practicing your Greek or something like that, you know? Because anything which exercises your mind would help.
[Paul.]
I know, but 24 hours a day, and everything I think of makes me think of Rachel.
[vehicle approaching.]
[Rachel.]
"Friday, 26th February.
Freedom is not having armed delinquent guards around you 24 hours a day.
Not living in fear of the next onslaught from Buggas.
Not having to beg for water.
Not feeling that death would be a release.
I'm finished.
Sick, sick, sick of these vile people.
I need to be in peace, and I will have peace.
Dearest Paul, I love you lots and lots, and always will but I'm feeling very suicidal now and don't know how long I can carry on.
If I don't make it out of here, I want you to know that I don't want you to grieve for me, or be bitter about what has happened.
Please get on with rebuilding your life and planning for future happiness.
We've had a wonderful time together and I don't regret a thing.
" [Leivers.]
They could have done anything other than separate them.
But not to have them together was the hardest thing.
[seagulls calling.]
[Collett on recording.]
Ali, I thought we could work together.
You're just talking crazy numbers.
Come on, we're not making any sense here.
[narrating.]
My wife was always very, very supportive, but she found it very difficult living with me.
I was, um Got very short-tempered, very depressed.
I was a very difficult person to live with for a long time.
[on recording.]
This is not bullshit money.
Do you understand how hard it is to get this? All I want is for my sister and her husband to be free.
[Paul.]
I composed a couple of crosswords specially for Rachel for a birthday treat.
And I thought I'd done a brilliant job.
I said, "These books to go to Rachel.
" So we could swap books.
And with the books, I put in my two crosswords.
And he said, "Okay, no problem.
" And he disappeared.
I didn't even know whether they would get to Rachel.
But it was about 40 minutes later, he came back in with a bag and gave it back to me.
And I thought, "Oh.
" [Rachel.]
When I got the parcel, that was absolutely wonderful.
I was not only delighted, but I thought, "I must send him some books back.
" I looked inside and it was different books.
[laughs.]
And then I knew Rachel wasn't very far away.
[Rachel gasps.]
[Rachel.]
After three months apart, I noticed how thin, how drawn he looked.
But he was walking.
[chuckling.]
He was he was alive.
It was such a relief.
We thought it was just a matter of weeks now, because why would they bring us together if they weren't going to to release us? [men singing in Arabic.]
- [rocket whooshes.]
- [gunfire.]
[Paul.]
We were aware from the World Service that Al-Shabaab were living up to their terrorist ideas.
They didn't control the area the pirates were based in, but the pirates could always frighten us by saying, "Al-Shabaab are coming.
They want to capture you.
" And that really did make us afraid.
[woman.]
The person you are calling is unable to take your call.
Please leave your message after the tone.
To re-record your message, key hash at any time.
[phone beeps.]
[Ali on phone.]
Stephen, this is Ali from Somalia.
Uh, Stephen, we agree to take 440,000 because there is quick action, there is an emergency.
There is an Islamic group close to us.
That's why we cannot wait ten days or five days.
We need you to call me an emergency.
So, we want you to call us quick.
[woman.]
Press "2" to repeat, "3" to delete, "5-5" to call back.
[Collett on recording.]
Hello? Hello, Ali? - [Ali.]
Yes.
- Yes.
[Collett.]
Ali, I'm very pleased the deal is now at 440,000, but I'm worried about this emergency problem.
We do not want to pay you, and then you say you can't release Paul and Rachel, because they've been taken by the other group.
That's very dangerous for all of us.
[Ali.]
We do not cheat anybody.
Uh, we have a representative in Kenya.
We can send our man, and he hands over the money.
And that's okay.
- [Collett.]
Hello, Rachel.
- Hello? Hello, Stephen! [Collett.]
You must stay calm, and do everything that the pirates ask you to do.
[Rachel.]
Okay, thank you so much for everything you've done, Stephen.
[Collett.]
Don't worry.
Keep calm.
'Cause it's very close now.
[Leivers.]
The plan was, I was going to go out there.
The money was going to be going up in a plane.
We were going to drop off.
The pirates would hand over Paul and Rachel, and then I would meet them at Nairobi.
I was asked by the High Commission, "What would Paul and Rachel like to eat?" Now, Paul and Rachel might not have liked to eat this, but I certainly do.
And I said, "A good old bangers and mash.
Mashed potato, onion gravy, peas and sausages.
" That's my favorite meal.
I thought, well, that's typically English.
You could feel that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
And we thought, "Yes, this is gonna happen.
" [indistinct chatter.]
[Rachel.]
We were incredibly excited.
We were we were ready to go.
Some of the gang were giving us their mobile phone numbers saying, "Call when you get to Britain.
" Some of them were saying, "Take me with you.
" Everybody was excited.
Everybody was pleased.
I mean, the gang members because they were going to get their money.
So, everything seemed right.
This surely was the end of it.
- [Paul on recording.]
Hello? - [Collett.]
Hello, Paul.
I have to speak to both of you, that's the thing.
Um, now our plane is delivering the money.
It's flying towards you.
It will arrive in about three hours.
- About - [Paul.]
Three hours, yes.
[Collett.]
It's delivering the money in three hours' time.
This is to confirm that you're both still safe and well before we make the final payment.
[Paul.]
Yes.
- Yes, we're safe and well.
- [airplane humming.]
- [phone beeps.]
- [Ali on recording.]
Yes, hello? [Collett.]
Ah, hello.
Have you collected the money? [Ali.]
Yes, it has dropped.
[Collett.]
Good.
You must call me when you have counted it.
[Ali.]
Okay.
[Walker.]
People were sitting around in Nairobi, camera crews and journalists, waiting for something to happen.
Then nothing.
It just went quiet.
Radio silence.
[phone pad beeping.]
[line ringing.]
[Collett on recording.]
Ali? Ali? Listen, Ali.
You need to listen to what I have to say.
The family have done everything that you asked us to do.
We've now spent all our money to rescue Paul and Rachel.
There is no more money left.
No more money! [Ali speaking indistinctly.]
[Collett.]
No! - [Ali continues indistinctly.]
- We won't You're lying, cheating You're lying, cheating scum, Ali.
We'll never trust you again, nor will anyone else.
[Leivers.]
There's no words really to describe it apart from it feels like drowning.
Like drowning.
What did we do wrong? Are Paul and Rachel still okay? And so it was a very, very sad flight back home.
Very sad flight back home.
[phone pad beeping.]
[Collett.]
We were obviously very upset, very despondent.
I mean, I'd just chucked away a lot of my money.
We can't believe it anymore.
We think they just want to keep us here.
God knows why.
Their God certainly doesn't.
These fellows don't give a damn.
They really don't think we deserve to have a family.
They're bastards! - They don't - Don't cut that out.
[Rachel.]
It's the worst possible outcome you could ever imagine.
Where do we go from there? They've got our money and they haven't let us go.
What are they doing to do with us? [call to prayer heard in distance.]
[man speaking Somali.]
I felt it was awful, what had happened.
I felt something needed to be done.
I found out that the couple were being held in central Somalia.
Fortunately, I am originally from that area, so are my family, who are well known.
The people in that area are mainly my clan.
It felt it was essential to do something, both for the British people and the Somalis back home.
My name is Dahir.
I didn't tell my family about my mission because I didn't want them to worry about me.
I was frightened that if the pirates found out what I was doing, they would kill the hostages.
[speaks English.]
Top secret.
[man speaking indistinctly on TV.]
[woman on TV.]
It is exactly a year since Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
The couple from Kent were taken to the Somali mainland where they continue to be held.
[woman on TV.]
I think that you've completely lost your mind.
[men laughing hysterically.]
[Paul.]
Life just seemed to go on, and I thought we were just abandoned at that stage.
- I didn't think we had any worth.
- [TV continues playing.]
I still couldn't understand why negotiation wasn't going on.
There was still a deal to be done.
Something had to be done.
Somebody had to speak to somebody.
[Collett on recording.]
Who am I speaking to, please? Yeah, I am Dahir.
Welcome, Stephen.
I am from London East London.
I am Somali-British.
- Uh, Stephen - Yes? [Kadiye.]
On behalf of the Somali diaspora, I am trying my best to release those two innocent persons.
[speaking Somali.]
I could feel how worried he was.
He asked me if I had seen the couple.
I told him no, which was the truth.
He asked me how it was going.
I said, "I'm very hopeful.
" [Collett on recording.]
Does your plan involve money? [Kadiye.]
No, I don't need money now.
Already I spoke to the hijackers.
I'm pushing to them to release the people without ransom.
[narrating in Somali.]
I was in talks with community groups that I had set up.
I reminded them of a proverb that they know "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
" It helped me explain to them, half a million Somalis live in Britain and get financial support.
Would you like it if the people who look after that huge community would you like their fathers and mothers and friends to be killed in your country? The answer is no.
[Kadiye on recording.]
I'm flying after tomorrow to their place.
[Collett.]
Do you think you will bring Rachel and Paul back? [Kadiye.]
Yeah.
We will come back together, inshallah.
[Collett.]
All I knew about Dahir was that he'd one time been a taxi driver.
He'd been a refugee from Somalia.
But, um, we had no reason to think Dahir would deliver.
[Kadiye speaking Somali.]
I asked the clan if I could go to see the couple that evening.
The pirates imposed conditions.
They said, "Bring him, but he must come without a watch, phone, walkie-talkie or gun, and he must come alone.
Be there at ten o'clock in the evening.
" It was the most frightening moment of my life.
[man yelling indistinctly.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[line beeps.]
- [Kadiye.]
Hello, Stephen? - Hello.
[Kadiye.]
How's the rest of your family? How are they? [Collett.]
Well, they're getting excited, but they're equally worried in case things go wrong, because this sort of thing has We thought we were here before.
[Kadiye.]
I have picked the meeting place.
I am expecting them to arrive here within half an hour or one hour more.
Yeah, I can see them where they are, but still, I can't talk to them.
I looked up and there was a chap striding towards me holding a British passport in his hand.
[chuckles.]
And he said, "I'm Dahir.
I've come to take you home.
" [chuckles.]
He said, "I'm Dahir.
I'm from Leytonstone.
I've come to take you home.
" And he hugged me [laughs.]
and then he hugged Rachel.
And it was a magic moment.
It really was.
[Dahir speaks Somali.]
We cried and held each other.
[breath trembling.]
[speaks English.]
What do you feel? It feels good, but you must understand that until we are out of this country - [Dahir.]
Mm-hmm.
- we're not free.
[woman.]
In the end, why do you think the pirates released them? [Dahir speaks Somali.]
I know for a fact, they realized they wouldn't achieve their aims.
So they were like a fish who runs out of water.
[Collett.]
I'd gone to bed and, um, the phone rang at about 3:00 in the morning, I think.
It was Rachel.
[chuckles.]
[Rachel on recording.]
Thank you, Stephen, for everything.
And we'll speak to you as soon as we can.
- [Collett.]
We love you lots.
- [Rachel.]
Okay, bye-bye.
- [Collett.]
Bye.
- Thank you.
Yeah.
Bye.
[Collett.]
Bye.
[inaudible.]
[Collett.]
Finally, uh Yes, they were they were free.
So, uh, that was good.
Happy to be alive, happy to be free, happy to be here, and desperate to see our family and friends.
[man.]
I think it was about 5:00 or 6:00 a.
m.
, there was video footage showing Paul and Rachel, and they're alive.
And of course, we're just all extremely relieved that after 13 months of all the work, and all the investment and everything the family had done it looked like they're on their way home.
I gave them so, so big a hug.
So big a hug.
They were there, and you could think, "Yes, I can sleep tonight 'cause they're only next door.
" [laughs.]
Then Rob Macaire, the High Commissioner, said, "What would you like for breakfast in the morning?" "Sausage, bacon and eggs, please.
" [laughing.]
And we tried to get used to soft beds, and toiletries and showers.
And, of course, the media.
- [indistinct chatter.]
- [car alarm blaring.]
[Walker.]
Paul, Rachel, it's Angus Walker! I sent you the backgammon set and Somali phrasebook.
Can you do three questions for me? Make my day as happy as yours, please.
It was the first time I'd actually seen them, for real.
You know, I'd seen them on video.
I'd spoken to them on the phone numerous occasions over the months, but this was the first time I saw them.
And I was, you know, personally, really, really happy for them.
[Angus.]
We won't leave.
[narrating.]
And then it was a case of getting on the same plane as them, the plane that would fly them back to the UK.
They were kept separate from us.
What I had done was send a bottle of champagne back through the curtain, and Paul came out and shared a glass of champagne with us.
It was great to see him, have a chat.
And he was joking.
You know, again, he was this guy who was able to apparently laugh it off.
And he was dismayed that he hadn't got an exit stamp, a Somali exit stamp, in his passport to show off.
And then when we landed at Heathrow, they were taken out first.
We waved, they waved, and that was it, they were back in the UK.
[Collett.]
They came back off the plane like they just had a week in Portugal or somewhere.
Very brown of course.
[laughing.]
[Rachel.]
It definitely strengthened our relationship.
We experienced the most horrendous thing together, and we pulled through it together.
And we recovered from it together.
[Paul.]
I think, what I take from the whole thing is that the freedom that we have in our Western civilization is priceless, absolutely priceless.
I think we collectively We take it for granted.
And I think we need to be aware of that.
And we both value each other, of course, and life, every day.
You know, every day is a bonus.
Many families are torn apart by this experience, and, uh I think we were lucky not being close in the first place.
You know, we we reverted to type afterwards.
[chuckles.]
[somber music playing.]