A British couple has been freed more than a year after they were kidnapped from their private yacht by Somali pirates, bringing to a close one of the most protracted hostage situations since modern piracy surged off the East African coast.
A small ceremony was held in the Somali town where Paul and Rachel Chandler were freed Sunday morning.
By Sunday night, they had arrived in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
"We are happy to be alive, happy to be here, desperate to see our family, and so happy to be amongst decent, everyday people, Somalis, people from anywhere in the world who are not criminals, because we've been a year with criminals and that's not a very nice thing to be doing," Rachel Chandler told a news conference in Mogadishu.
The married couple was sailing from Seychelles when pirates boarded their 12-metre yacht in October of 2009.
The Somali diaspora, the government in Mogadishu, and Britain tried to negotiate for the couple's release.
They were freed 388 days later, and taken to a safe house in the Somali town of Adado where a ceremony attended by several dozen people was held to mark their release.
"The community expressed their sorrow over their captivity and they told them that the pirates don't represent all Somalis but they represent a fringe part of the community," Mohamed Aden, the leader of the government administration in Adado, told The Associated Press.
"The Chandlers thanked the community in return and they said they are grateful for anyone who played a role in their release."
The retired husband and wife appeared thin in video footage taken at a press conference later, suggesting they were not well fed while they were held captive near the Ethiopia border.
According to Somali officials, between $300,000 and $1 million was reportedly paid for their release. The couple does not come from a wealthy family, which was one reason their release took more than a year.
In Mogadishu, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed told the couple that his government had "exerted every humanly possible effort to bring you back to your loved ones."
A statement from the couple's family said Paul and Rachel were to receive medical checkups in Nairobi before boarding a plane to Britain. The family also thanked those in the Somali community who worked for their release.
A Somali doctor named Abdi Mohamed Elmi, who treated the couple, said the Chandlers will require expert attention.
"They need counselling and rest to recover from the situation they have been living in for the last 13 months," Elmi said. "But now they seem OK and were happy this morning. They had showers, changed clothes and had breakfast with us smiling."
Pirates continue to patrol the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast, despite an international flotilla of warships that have gathered in the region to stem their attacks.
Somali pirates are currently holding nearly 500 other hostages, and more than 20 ships.
The country is one of the poorest in world and has been without a functioning national government since 1991. It has been wracked by civil war for much of its history since then.
With files from The Associated Press
