Britain's SAS reportedly aided in Irian Jaya rescue<\/p>\n
LONDON (AFP): Britain's crack SAS army regiment was involved
\nin a 1996 mission to rescue hostages from rebels in Indonesia's
\nIrian Jaya province during which eight civilians died, a London
\nnewspaper said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Times cited unnamed sources close to the elite regiment as
\nconfirming a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
\n(ABC) on the participation of the Special Air Services (SAS).<\/p>\n
The sources told the newspaper that between four and six of
\nits members had helped to plan the operation, under an official
\narrangement authorized by the British Foreign Office.<\/p>\n
The SAS experts did not take part in the rescue mission
\nitself, but traced the hostages through surveillance techniques
\nand worked out how the operation should be carried out by the
\nIndonesian special forces.<\/p>\n
The sources denied any mercenaries from South African company
\nExecutive Outcomes had been involved, and insisted no approval
\nhad been given for Indonesian soldiers to use a helicopter with
\nInternational Red Cross markings.<\/p>\n
Such a helicopter was claimed in the ABC report to have been
\nused by soldiers who shot the eight villagers in the southern
\nhighlands of Irian Jaya in May 1996.<\/p>\n
The ABC Four Corners program also alleged the SAS worked with
\nmercenaries in planning the operation to rescue a team of
\nEuropean biologists and Indonesian researchers, including some
\nfrom Executive Outcomes.<\/p>\n
The ABC report, broadcast late Monday, said the truth about
\nthe mission had been concealed and the Indonesian military was
\ncredited with a rescue that triggered a crackdown in which many
\nIrianese were massacred, raped, tortured or dispossessed.<\/p>\n
Four Britons, a German, a Dutchman and his pregnant wife, and
\nfour Indonesians had been held for four months while the
\nInternational Red Cross negotiated for their release.<\/p>\n
Free Papua Movement (OPM) guerrillas had captured the team to
\ndraw international attention to their battle against Indonesia
\nfor independence in the western half of New Guinea.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was accused in Monday's ABC report of bombing and
\nstrafing villages whose loyalties were regarded as suspect during
\na campaign that brought famine to the region.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/britains-sas-reportedly-aided-in-irian-jaya-rescue-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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