Chandlers prepare for UK return after pirate ordeal
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Rachel and Paul Chandler speak to the BBC's Andrew Harding in Nairobi
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The long road to release
Timeline: Chandler kidnap
Chandler family statement
The British couple freed in Somalia 13 months after being kidnapped by pirates are preparing to fly home to the UK.
Paul, 60, and Rachel Chandler, 56, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, enjoyed their first night of freedom at the British High Commission in Nairobi.
The couple, whose yacht was boarded off the Seychelles in October 2009, have spoken of their fear after being beaten when they refused to be separated.
Their ordeal was reportedly ended by the payment of a ransom.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the sum paid for their eventual release had been "the best part of $1m" (£620,000), although there has been no official confirmation of this.
The Chandlers were taken to the British High Commission in Nairobi
Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted the UK government had not been involved in paying ransoms to the kidnappers.
He said: "We have used our contacts in the region to try to gain information and to influence the hostage-takers, but no British government is going to start paying ransoms for hostages."
The Chandlers, who spent 13 months held hostage in harsh conditions and intense heat in rural Somalia, said they had been beaten when they refused to be separated during their time in captivity.
"We were really distraught, we were very frightened at that point," Mrs Chandler said after arriving safely in Kenya.
Both Mr and Mrs Chandler, who are experienced sailors, said the worst time had been leaving their yacht in the first place.
They had been sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania as part of a longer voyage.
"We had to abandon our home and boat... in the ocean," Mr Chandler said.
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Rachel seemed intermittently weary but rallied to give a bright and moving description of her elation, her enthusiasm for the people of Somalia, and her relief at no longer being surrounded by criminals”
Andrew Harding
BBC correspondent
Resilient Chandlers
The couple said they had only the vaguest idea of how the rescue had come about having had no communication since the middle of June with the outside world.
Mr Chandler said they had been driven across Somalia to Adado and were later transferred to Mogadishu and then on to Kenya. The couple have undergone medical checks in Nairobi.
Details of the release were not given by the Chandler family in the UK, who issued a statement saying: "The family believes it would be irresponsible to discuss any aspect of the release process as this could encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments, something that we are sure none of us wants."
Earlier this year their captors threatened to kill the couple if their demands for $7m (£4.4m) were not met.
A payment of about $430,000 (£267,000) was made to the pirates in June, but did not result in the release of the Chandlers.
Media speculation was thought to have influenced the pirates, and so the family opted for a super-injunction banning media coverage of the kidnap.
Our correspondent said it was thought unlikely any of those responsible would be brought to justice in Somalia, a country without an effective government since 1991.
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