Somali pirate chief says US$1.6m paid for release of German-US journalist

Negotiators paid a US$1.6 million ransom for the release of a German-American journalist who was kidnapped in Somalia and held for two years and eight months, said a commander of the pirates who held him.

A German spokeswoman would not confirm that money was paid for the freedom of Michael Scott Moore. US policy prohibits paying ransoms.

Moore, 45, was "doing well" and receiving medical care, Germany's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The journalist was flown to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi after being freed in Somalia on Tuesday.

A special German foreign ministry crisis group and German federal police had worked "very closely" with US authorities to win Moore's freedom after he was kidnapped on January 21, 2012, while researching a book on piracy, foreign ministry spokeswoman Sawsan Chebli said in Berlin. "Given the circumstances, he's doing well."

She would not comment on what led to his release or on reports that a ransom had been paid, beyond saying "the German government cannot be blackmailed".

The US military in Africa refused to comment on whether the American military was involved in the case.