GAROWE, Somalia, July 1, 2008 – A husband and his wife from Europe who were kidnapped by suspected pirates off of northern Somalia's Gulf of Aden coast last month are both "safe." A Garowe Online reporter who secretly visited the location where the couple in their 50s are being held hostage was granted an opportunity to speak with them and to take pictures. For security-related reasons, the 12-man team of kidnappers declined to have their pictures taken, but indicated that the European family wants their relatives to know that they are safe.
Contrary to prior reports, there is no French captain or young child that was kidnapped along with the family. Further, the couple is not from Germany , as has been previously reported by the media.
The husband is from Denmark and the wife is from France . They have been married for decades and told the Garowe Online correspondent that they have two older children.
The married couple had left the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh and were on their way to coastal destinations in Asia when they were kidnapped in the Gulf of Aden .
The couple, who were kidnapped on June 23, are being kept at a secret location in a mountainous area of Sanaag, a region etched between the republic of Somaliland and the semiautonomous state of Puntland in north Somalia .
Last month, a senior government official in Puntland told the press that the kidnappers had demanded a US$1 million ransom payment for the safe release of their hostages.
Source: Garowe Online
