Captors planned to kill Indonesian hostages<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): A Dutch couple who were rescued from
\ncaptivity in Irian Jaya jungles said yesterday that their captors
\nhad planned to kill all the five Indonesian hostages they held.<\/p>\n
Martha Klein and Mark van der Wal, who flew back to Amsterdam
\non Wednesday, said in a statement released by the Dutch Embassy
\nthat as army troops closed in on them and the captors last week,
\n\"the cornered men, totally unexpectedly for us, decided to let go
\nof the whites and kill the rest\", Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
The two Dutch nationals said they and four British scientists
\nfled to safety along with three Indonesian hostages. The other
\ntwo Indonesians were slashed by the kidnappers with machetes and
\nbled to death.<\/p>\n
Their statement corroborated an earlier military claim that
\ndocuments seized from the rebels showed specific instruction to
\nkill the Indonesian hostages.<\/p>\n
All the 11 hostages were taken hostage by Irian Jaya
\nseparatist rebels on Jan. 8. The hostages were rescued after a
\nseven-hour gun battle on May 15 in which eight rebels were killed
\nand two captured, according to the military.<\/p>\n
\"The joy of freedom has been heavily overshadowed by these
\nevents,\" the Dutch couple said in the statement.<\/p>\n
Describing the four-month ordeal, which was overshadowed by
\nKlein's pregnancy, they said: \"The whole period .. has been a
\nperiod of running and standing still, of hope and despair. (There
\nwere) days of emptiness and boredom, periods of food scarcity and
\nhunger.<\/p>\n
\"Especially frustrating was the very difficult communications
\nwith our 'hosts'. They spoke little Indonesian and they had no
\nreference point to relate with the outside world.<\/p>\n
\"Especially frightening for us was of course the fact that the
\nbaby was coming. Giving birth in the woods was coming closer and
\ncloser.\"<\/p>\n
But the two said local Irianese had been a big help.<\/p>\n
\"It was they who supplied us with food in any which way they
\ncould and also gave us their sincere sympathies. In fact, we've
\nbeen treated like guests by the majority of the indigenous people
\nor even as family members.\"<\/p>\n
The two said they planned to stay in the Netherlands until
\ntheir baby is born in July. They said they would then consider
\nreturning to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully by that time it will become clear whether the
\nsituation in Irian Jaya will improve, and so we do not want to
\nrule out a return. For now we need rest and time to spend with
\nour loved ones.\"<\/p>\n
Van der Wal was on a World Wide Fund for Nature project in
\nIrian when he was captured. Klein, who works for the UN in
\nJakarta, was visiting him and the British and the Indonesians
\nwere on a scientific expedition to the Lorentz nature reserve in
\nthe region.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Far Eastern Economic Review reported that
\nIndonesia's special forces received important technical
\nassistance from Israel in the hostage rescue operation.<\/p>\n
In its May 30 issue, the Review quotes diplomatic and other
\nsources as saying that Israeli-made Mazlat Scout pilotless drones
\nhad been shipped from Singapore and were used to help locate the
\nhostages, DPA reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Review said the unmanned drones flew pre-programmed routes
\nover rebel-held jungle, employing thermal imaging to detect body
\nheat and helping special-forces personnel to pinpoint the
\nhostages' location.<\/p>\n
The Review said a Singaporean Air Force C-130 cargo plane flew
\nseveral of the drones to Jakarta in late April and that they were
\naccompanied by Israeli technical advisers.<\/p>\n
The military has earlier denied media reports suggesting the
\ninvolvement of any foreign agents in the operation.<\/p>",
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