LONDON — A British couple being held hostage by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast today that they fear they will be killed or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom is not paid soon. Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped by pirates on Oct. 22, who seized their 38-foot yacht — the Lynn Rival. In an interview with Britain's Channel 4 news program, the Chandlers are seen surrounded by armed men, some of whom have their guns pointed directly at the retired couple. "I have no doubt that they will not hesitate to kill us in a week or so from now," Paul Chandler, 59, said in the interview, filmed by a Channel 4 crew on Wednesday. Britain's ITN — which produces Channel 4 News — said the Chandlers and their relatives had agreed that the footage, the first of the couple since their capture, could be aired. Pirates have demanded $7 million to release the Chandlers, but Britain's government insists it won't pay ransoms to kidnappers. "We are under threat and we are told that we will not be fed and given water, so we are very concerned about the future," Rachel Chandler, 55, said in the video.
