South African government
thanks Somalia, Italy
Thursday, June 21, 2012
AP
Bruno Pelizzari, right, and Deborah Calitz, left, gesture in
celebration at the presidential palace a few hours after they
were released by their captors in Mogadishu, Somalia on Thursday.
South Africa thanked the Italian and Somalian authorities on
Thursday for the safe return of a local couple held captive
by pirates for 20 months.
“The couple was released unharmed and is receiving consular
support from the South African mission to Somalia, which is
based in Nairobi, Kenya,” said international relations
spokesman Nelson Kgwete.
“Arrangements are being made for the return of the couple
to South Africa.”
He said South Africa's ambassador to Somalia, Ndumiso Ntshinga,
was in contact with the couple, Deborah Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari.
Somalian authorities had confirmed that they were in good health
and eager to be reunited with their loved ones.
The two were kidnapped in October 2010 from a
yacht off the south-eastern coast of Africa. Their pirate captors
originally demanded a ransom of US10 million.
The Associated Press reported that the couple was among the
longest-held hostages by pirates.
At a press conference in Somalia's presidential palace in Mogadishu,
Calitz and Pelizzari smiled but appeared exhausted, AP said.
“We are very happy to get our freedom again,” Calitz
said.
“We are so happy today and to join our families again.”
Somalia's defence minister Hussein Arab Isse credited Somali
security forces with helping secure the couple's release, but
he did not say whether the pair had been rescued. He also declined
to say if a ransom was paid, said the association.
Source: Sapa
)