I understand how you feel Lorna.
They shouldnt have been there and were stupid to have been sailing in that area.
BUT I found the video very distressing...they are PEOPLE.
in all reality would it be that difficult to get them out?? The government and media know where they are...theyve had long enough to work out how to do it.
IMO the government just stick their heads in the sand until it goes away.

It is as simple as the government cannot pay the ransom, nor can they allow anyone else to either, otherwise we will all be looking over our shoulders in case we're about to get bundled into a van & held until our families cough up. It's not that the innocent (Or stupid, depending...) victims don't deserve to be freed, it's that a civilised society cannot give in to criminals.

As I touched on before though, those who are supposed to be protecting us should stop pussyfooting around these 'pirates' and start getting robust with them! They're all too quick to subject us to delays, frustration and humiliation in the name of security/war against terror at airports and other such erosions of our liberty but they can't seem to do anything with those who have forfeited their rights by putting people like this couple through hell.

But the Government will be in negotiations through 3rd parties, the negotiations will not be about the money, but diplomatic resources.

It would be harmful for the negotiations to be made public.

Do you ever wonder why the terrorists do not try to hijack El Al aircraft ? They did in the past & found out the hard way that Israel does not pay ransoms nor even negotiate with terrorists(remember the "Yonatan Operation"when an Air France plane was hijacked & the Israeli commandos raided Uganda & rescued all but 4 of the hostages(4 died)?) El Al has plain clothed Air Marshals on every flight for many years.

If you give in to terrorists, then you are allowing them to gain the upper-hand & the chaos that would result would be like the situations in many of the South American countries-where kidnapping is very much a growth industry

Lorna, bless you, you're so loved up right now you can't see the wood for the trees ;o)

You're right, it's horrid and the way they have been split up like this makes it seem even worse for them, but you have to think of the bigger picture in this.

Your governments responsibility is to try and negotiate your freedom, not hand over ransom demands whenever they come in I'm afraid. The knock on effect of doing this would be crippling for the government and cause a huge ripple effect.

It's similar to the whole responsible tourist trade thing. We visit developing countries, hand out pennies to us without realising that it's hundreds of pounds to them and so the ripple effect begins. They become used to this income and when it isn't forthcoming turn to alternative sources like crime and prostitution. Saigon is rife with it. So you need to hold back and know that what 'should' be done is being done in this instance even if we all wish it could be more.

I just can't bear to think about what they're going through, its horrendous and disgusting and I can't see any other way to have them released - if there was another way surely it would have been found in the hundred days they've been gone?

Lorna, FWIW I agree with you in my heart, it is appalling, its terrible it is disgusting and its inhumane. The Compassion within me says we should do whatever we as a country can do to help these people.

But then when I think about it with my head, and its not very often I think with my head, I realise that paying a ransom as a country is asking for trouble. You are right people will be kidnapped regardless of whether the uk stump up or not, it's a business BUT there is less likelihood the people will be Brits. those two will hopefully be released, but if not they will die for the freedom of other Brits, no consolation at all for their families or indeed them I realise that.

If the UK government stump up, those two will hopefully be released, but there is no guarantee, but there is nothing surer than the British Government would, as someone else said, be seen as a cash machine and the lives of several Brits, not just near Somalia, but near other poor countries, would be put at risk.

I am unsure as to how they ended up in Somalian waters but I do have to say that if it were me no amount of bloody mindedness would make me sail where the Foreign Office advised Travel was a no go, but then I am not in their position and I guess we may never know how far into the waters etc they were.

I would also like to think that them being kept seperately is a tactic, awful for them, but a tactic none the less, the more desperate they appear the more bargaining power the terrorists have.

But at the end of the day I am sad to say that if they are unfortunately murdered it will inadvertently save the lives of others. Is it right or wrong not to pay - I am glad I am not making that call, and I am glad it is noone I know being held captive. I hope as RichC says that undercover rescue operations are being planned/carried out as we debate this and that the outcome is a happy one that clearly states Do Not Mess.

hoping and praying for a happy end

nope the uk should not stump up the cash, for all of the very valid reasons given by other members,

its a horrid thing thats happening to these people, to horrid to imagine, but paying will not change that

But they have as much of a right to protection as the rest of us

I don't think anyone is saying it wouldnt be nice to pay them and get them home again, it is the consequence of those actions though that would be detrimental. You possibly save 2 people but you increase the risk for everyone in developed countries. Would you think that is acceptable? If it saved those two people but the end cost being your parents and two close friends being taken? As soon as they know governments will pay everyone gets a target on their backs.
so basically
two people held hostage = 2million paid = shows them this will get you money = target on everyones back
OR
two people held hostage = 2 million not paid = it shows them they will not get what they want = sending a message this is not a way to get money

Agree with this

The government is doing everything they can, without jeopodising every other citizen to the same fate these two are going through. It doesnt get reported what exactly the government is doing otherwise it would risk their lives even further

I must say I agree, it is not enough to just not pay the ransom and bigger message be sent that it will end with larger consequences for them.

It would be more than my brain would allow me to imagine these arent the first two to go through it though and many have been held for longer and treated with such disregard for humanity and life. Some have been held captive for years.

they do but went you step outside your own country it is a risk, your own government is limited to its actions, you may not think of it put that is the truth, whether it be kidnapping, getting arrested, disappearing, murdered, our governments have limited control over what happens
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...0202-n963.html

When I saw the news the other day I was shocked and appalled, I was wondering why on earth the government hadn't paid the ransom and got those poor people out of there.

Then, as the others have said, I realised that if the ransom is paid for this couple, what is there to prevent the same thing happening again, and again and again? Also, the couple must have realised they were in unsafe territory...I don't understand why you would deliberately travel/sail to an area that you know there is a chance you could be hijacked/killed.

It is terribly sad Lorna, I can understand your feelings totally as I feel the same in my heart, and if it were me or my loved ones I would be pulling my hair out...but equally, if I knew that one of my family were planning on travelling to such a place, I would do my best to talk them out of it.

I'm sure that all of us that think the ransom should not be paid would give anything for this not to have happened, but as was mentioned about the El Al planes....you have to show these thugs that they won't achieve anything by trying to deal in human lives. I wish there were a specialist team that could go in and rescue these hostages but that puts even more lives in danger...I just don't know what the answer is with these scumbags.