Sunday, August 30, 2020

UK team helps free Iranian hostages from Somali pirates




LONDON: A British team has helped secure the release of three Iranian sailors from Somali pirates, amid heightened tensions between the UK and Iran over the case of the imprisoned charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.The deal for the sailors’ release involved a ransom payment of $180,000 — brokered by the UK-based Hostage Support Partnership — which was coordinated by Kenya-based former British diplomat John Steed in partnership with Leslie Edwards, a UK-based hostage-negotiation specialist. 

It ends the longest-running maritime hostage situation in the region to date, with the three men having spent five-and-a-half years in captivity.

READ MORE FROM ARABNEWS.COM [HERE].