Bruno Pelizzari and his girlfriend Deborah, left. File Picture.
Somali pirates have sold Durban couple Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz to men who are now demanding a higher ransom for their release.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Pietermaritzburg-based aid organisation Gift of the Givers has discovered that the pirates, who kidnapped the couple almost 16 months ago, sold them to another gang of pirates, who then sold them again.
The organisation's founder, Imtiaz Sooliman, said Gift of the Givers, which supplies humanitarian aid to war-stricken Somalia, has been acting as a negotiator on behalf of Pelizzari's family to secure the couple's release.
"We have discovered that the couple was sold twice. They are now being held by Somali 'businessmen', who want a ransom to recover the money they spent when they bought the couple. It appears that the people holding the couple have been moving them further south of Mogadishu," Sooliman said.
The pirates, who kidnapped the couple in October 2010, had demanded $4-million (about R30-million) from Pelizzari's family but the latest captors want millions more.
Sooliman said there had been many middlemen until his organisation stepped in.
"We hope that the figure will be reduced because the people that are holding the couple captive are now dealing with only one negotiator," he said.
Sooliman was told by a representative of his organisation in Somalia that the couple were still alive.
"Our representative has seen the couple. He could not take photographs or talk to them. We need to establish their identities but, from his description, it appears that he did see them. They look in good condition but are rundown because they are probably not used to the conditions of the area or the food."
Sooliman could not say when the couple would be released.
"It's difficult to say but we are praying and are hopeful. It is indeed a sad situation as [those holding the couple captive] do not realise that the family have to depend on public support and donations to raise funds. The money is not coming from Gift of the Givers. The money is being raised by the family and it is very hard for them," he said.
The South African government's policy is not to pay ransoms for kidnapped citizens.
Pelizzari's sister, Vera Hecht, said the SOS Bru and Deb Trust has been raising cash but the amount is nowhere near the ransom demand.
Though she has not seen proof that her brother is still alive, Hecht's hopes of his return to South Africa have been boosted by the Gift of the Givers.
"I believe that the Gift of the Givers will help, especially during this delicate negotiating period. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. I won't give up," she said. "I just can't focus. All I do is log onto the internet to research if there have been developments."
Pelizzari and Calitz were aboard the yacht Choizil with skipper Peter Eldridge when Somali pirates boarded on October 26 off the coast of Tanzania. Eldridge refused to leave his vessel but the couple were forced to go with their captors.
On his return to South Africa days later, Eldridge gave an account of his experience.
He said the pirates had planned to use his "beloved" yacht as their "mother ship" from which to attack other vessels and take the crews hostage.
Eldridge, who lived on his yacht off the coast of Dar es Salaam, was returning to Richards Bay to visit his family when he asked the couple to crew for him.
Source: TimesLive