Britain refuses to pay couple’s kidnap ransom

BRITISH Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday insisted his government would not get involved in any ransom payments to secure the release of a British couple kidnapped by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Miliband said he could not stop private individuals from pursuing the possibility of a ransom deal, but the British government had always made it clear making concessions to hostage-takers was not in the country’s interests.

His comments came days after Paul and Rachel Chandler issued a desperate plea for help, revealing they had been split up by their captors and feared they could be killed within days.