LONDON (AFP)— Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Tuesday that a British couple held hostage by pirates in his country were "not in danger" and insisted progress was being made on securing their release.
Asked during a visit to London about when Paul and Rachel Chandler would be freed, the president said: "The government is actively working on a peaceful solution of this issue so the Chandlers can make out of this safely."
Speaking through an interpreter, he added: "We're doing this not in the media but we have made progress and we're hopeful."
The president said his administration was working to secure the couple's release "at the earliest possible time" as well as speaking to clans and sub-clans about them.
"We understand there's no danger, they're not in danger," he said.
The couple, who were seized when their yacht was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on October 23, have expressed their fear in video messages that they would be killed if a ransom is not paid.
Rachel Chandler is also in poor mental and physical health, according to a doctor who was allowed to briefly examine the couple in captivity in January.
Ahmed met Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday, when the British leader pressed him on his government's efforts to secure the Chandlers' release.
"When someone is in captivity, that's not a good situation at all. The prime minister (Brown) asked that we redouble our efforts in winning their release and we will continue to do so," the president said.
Over the past year, the president has toured the world for support but in Mogadishu he has been largely confined to his compound, boxed in by insurgents and protected by an African Union peacekeeping contingent.
But he denied his country was so broken that no-one could fix it.
"It's easy for some people to despair looking at the situation in Somalia but I believe this is the best chance we have ever had, considering people are tired of fighting," he said.
He also defended the use of Islamic Sharia law in Somalia.
"When the West hears Sharia, the first thing they discuss is cutting hands," he said. "But Sharia is much larger than that, it's a complete system that includes mercy to the weak."
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