Hostages tired from continual movement<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Some of the thirteen hostages held by the Free
\nPapua Movement rebels in Irian Jaya have sent two letters to a
\nRoman Catholic bishop saying they are exhausted.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces (ABRI) spokesman, Brig. Gen. Suwarno
\nAdiwijoyo, revealed on Wednesday the latest development in the
\ndrama, which enters its fortieth day today.<\/p>\n
\"The two letters, addressed to Jayapura Bishop Munninghoff,
\nsaid that they are exhausted from moving all the time,\" Suwarno
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Suwarno said the military in Irian Jaya received the letters,
\ndated Feb. 5 and Feb. 6, on Tuesday from a courier. The agency
\ndid not say which of the captives -- seven Indonesians, four
\nBritons and two Dutch citizens -- had written the letters.<\/p>\n
The hostages said in the letters that, in order to avoid the
\narmy, the rebels have dragged them from place to place since they
\nleft Mapunduma village, some 4,000 km east of here, where they
\nfirst took the hostages on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n
The military has deployed troops around the village, mostly
\naround the nearby Alama village.<\/p>\n
Special forces troops cordoned off the area to prevent the
\nrebels, led by Kelly Kwalik of the Amungme tribe, from taking the
\nhostages across the border into Papua New Guinea, some 300 km
\neast of Mapunduma.<\/p>\n
In their letters to Bishop Herman Munninghoff, who acted as a
\nmediator earlier in the drama, the hostages wrote that they were
\nin good condition and appealed to the army not to use force to
\nfree them, Suwarno said.<\/p>\n
\"Our primary aim is to free the hostages unharmed,\" he said.
\nHe maintained that, despite mounting pressure to use force, the
\nmilitary will continue using other \"persuasive\" methods to free
\nthe hostages.<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, the Jakarta office of the International
\nCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) defended the office's
\ninvolvement in the drama, saying that letters were the result of
\nthe ICRC's recent attempt to make contact with the rebels by
\ndropping leaflets from an aircraft .<\/p>\n
Spokeswoman Sri Wahyu Endah said that ICRC officials would
\nnever have made it into the jungle without the Indonesian
\ngovernment's approval.<\/p>\n
Antara, however, quoted unnamed sources as saying that the
\nletters had already been sent by the hostages even before the
\ncommittee officials arrived in the jungle.<\/p>\n
The ICRC said last Wednesday it had made contact with the
\nrebels and planned to meet them next week at an undisclosed
\nlocation. Endah has said that some sort of breakthrough would
\nprobably be achieved before next Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The rebels abducted 27 people, including one infant, who were
\non a scientific expedition to the Lorentz natural reserve in
\nJayawijaya regency, Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Fourteen hostages have been released, a German and 13
\nIrianese, in return for food and medicine. However, the rebels
\ncut off communication when the government refused to meet the
\nrebels' main demand for a separate West Papua state in Irian
\nJaya. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hostages-tired-from-continual-movement-1447893297",
"image": ""
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