London-based Somali TV station appeals to pirates to release Paul and Rachel Chandler

A London-based Somali TV station is appealing to the pirates holding Paul and Rachel Chandler to set them free.

Universal TV, which broadcasts from a makeshift studio in Walthamstow, has repeatedly devoted its show Have Your Say to the couple from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who have been held hostage since their yacht was seized by Somali pirates last October.

Last Saturday, the show's host Ridwaan Haji Abdiwali, said he had a call from the pirates asking why he was putting pressure on them and whether he was working for the British Government. He said: "I said, No, we are expressing how Somalis in this country feel.'"

Abdullah Hussein Maaryaa, a Somali journalist who is a panellist on the show, said: "The kidnapping blackens the name of all Somalis."