**A ransom demand for a British couple being held by Somali pirates is to be made later, the BBC has learnt.**Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 59 and 55, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were taken hostage by gunmen in the Indian Ocean in the early hours of 23 October.
They had been travelling to Tanzania from the Seychelles and their yacht was later found in international waters.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross said pirates were holding discussions and a demand was “imminent”.
He reported that one of the men holding the couple said the demand would possibly be issued later on Friday.
‘Treated well’
Armed Somali pirates boarded the Chandler’s yacht the Lynn Rival in the Indian Ocean while they slept.
Mr Chandler, speaking by phone to the BBC’s Somali Service on Thursday, said they were being treated well.
The pirates forced the pair to sail towards Somalia after their boat was captured.
Searches for the Chandlers began on Friday after they sent a distress signal.
Mr Chandler has said the couple were being held on a Singapore-registered container ship called the Kota Wajah seized by the pirates earlier this month.
Local fishermen then reported seeing the couple being taken to the village of Ceel Huur, near the pirate stronghold Harardhere.
A spokesman for the pirates, who identified himself only as Abdinor, told the Press Association the couple would be moved from land back to a ship anchored off the eastern coast of Somalia.
The pirates believed it will be safer for the couple to be kept on a ship with other hostages, he said.
Commander John Harbour, spokesman for the European Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), said the pirates usually secure the vessel they have captured then contact the ship’s owner to start negotiations.
He said the pirates often take trade ships but have recently seized a couple of yachts, taking the crews prisoner.
“They know lives are worth a lot of money,” he added.
He warned that negotiations can take months.
Mr and Mrs Chandler had been sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania.
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