FREED kidnap Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler were seconds from being RECAPTURED by blood-thirsty Somali pirates, The Sun can reveal.
Brave ex-London cabbie Dahir Kadiye, 56 – who negotiated the couple’s release – told how a rebel group in the gang plotted to ambush the 4×4 taking them to safety.
ex-London cabbie who helped Paul and Rachel Chandler escape Somali pirates
The breakaway bandits intended to shoot dead their former comrades and demand a SECOND ransom for Dahir and the Chandlers.
In a gripping exclusive interview, Dahir wept as he recalled his despair as last week’s secret mission teetered on the edge of disaster.
He had already endured a terrifying ten-hour wait, during which one of the 15 pirates threatened to blow his head off, before he was taken in darkness to a bush camp where the frightened couple had been held for 388 days.
After embracing, Dahir, Paul and Rachel were packed into a jeep for the dangerous drive to Mogadishu, capital of war-torn Somalia.
Paul and Rachel board climb into a vehicle last week as their nightmare nears its end in dramatic dawn hand over to ex-cabbie Dahir
“During the journey, word reached us that the rebels planned to hijack our vehicle, kidnap all three of us and shoot dead their four fellow pirates.
“I screamed, ‘Oh no, this can’t be happening’. It was a nightmare scenario. I hadn’t gone all that way to Africa to end up as a hostage.
“Rachel and Paul looked mortified. I ordered our driver, ‘Do something. You better do something’.
“He then performed a diversion along a side road to avoid the ambush we knew was on the road ahead. Even after the detour, we could never be sure we were safe.”
Somali-born Dahir flew from his home in Leytonstone, East London, to win freedom for the Chandlers.
Retired civil engineer Paul, 60, and former economist Rachel, 57, were seized in October 2009 from their 38ft yacht the Lynn Rival as they sailed off the Seychelles.
The pirates threatened to kill them unless a ransom was paid.
After watching emotional TV appeals for their release, Dahir’s sons Yusuf, 16, and Liban, 26, urged him to do something.
The former asylum seeker spoke to clan elders in Adado – the village where he grew up, which is close to the pirates’ lair.
Meanwhile a ransom deal had been set up. Relatives of the Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had earlier arranged for around £282,000 to be dropped from a plane off the coast of Somalia.
The pirates refused to release the couple and upped their demand.
A second payment of around £219,000 raised by the Somali community was dropped near Adado hours before the couple were freed.
On Saturday, November 13, Dahir set off with doctors and elders in a seven-vehicle convoy to collect the hostages.
But they were intercepted by the pirates and found themselves out-gunned and outnumbered.
Dahir choked back tears as he recalled: “I had armed guards because you cannot trust anyone. We were ten kilometres (six miles) from the Chandlers when pirates appeared and demanded we laid down our arms.
“There was a scuffle and they surrounded us, thinking we were going to take the Chandlers by force before they got the ransom.
Paul and Rachel Chandler at Heathrow last Tuesday
“There were 15 to 20 of them and they had AK-47 rifles and Browning handguns.
“I ordered my team to put their weapons down and their hands up. I told the pirates my name and explained my family background.
“One of them piped up, ‘Only him’, meaning me. They wanted me to come with them alone.
“One of my doctors grabbed my arm and said, ‘Don’t go. It’s a trap, they’ll take you hostage as well’.
“But I took the decision in a split second – if I didn’t go, I’d never get to see the Chandlers.”
He went on: “They drove me off into the dark. But then they panicked. They got me out of the vehicle and forced me to stand in the middle of the bush.
“AK-47s were pointed at me. A rifle was put to my head and I was warned what would happen if I double-crossed them.
“I was made to stand in front of them for ten hours from 7pm to 5am. I could hear them arguing.
“One said, ‘He’s double-crossed us. Let’s shoot him dead and leave his body here for the animals’.
“I was too scared to move. A pirate pointed a gun at me and said, ‘You’ll be dead shortly’.
Route brave Dahir took through Somalia
“I started thinking about my family – my wife Zahra and the boys.
“The mission was so dangerous I hadn’t told them what I was doing. I’d said it was a business trip.
“I thought about the good times, the birthdays, the joy on Yusuf’s face when Chelsea scored.
“By 5am, I realised I was either going to save the Chandlers or die.
“Finally the pirates decided I was ok. I tried to walk but my legs were like jelly. I stumbled along.
“When I saw Paul and Rachel, we hugged and wept. I told them, ‘You are free’.”
They were not yet out of danger as the breakaway group tried to ambush them.
But finally they reached the British High Commission in Mogadishu.
Dahir flew home to a hero’s welcome. But hero is not a word he is comfortable with.
He just felt he had to show his gratitude to Britain.
He and his family arrived in the UK as refugees in 1997 and were taken in. He drove a cab before setting up a chauffeuring firm.
Dahir said: “I saved the Chandlers to send a message to the British public – you saved my family.
“We have massive opportunities now and this is the payback.
“I also want people to know not all Somalis are bad. The Chandlers are good people and what happened was an embarrassment.”
Dahir now hopes aid will be channelled into the country to stop youngsters turning to piracy.
He said: “Most pirates are aged 19 to 25, brought up in a lawless country. For 20 years Somalia has been torn apart by civil war. All they know is how to kill and survive. Piracy is a living to them.”
The Chandlers agree. Rachel said yesterday: “People expect us to want those people dead. We don’t.
“Those misguided young men could be helped if they had education instead of brutality.”
She spoke as they thanked everyone who helped in their release.
Dahir went home to a cup of tea with Zahra, 34, after his daring rescue. He added: “I’m not a hero – I just did my bit for Britain.”
His fee for this interview will be donated to the village of Adado.