Separatist rebels take five negotiators hostage<\/p>\n
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): Separatist rebels in remote Irian
\nJaya seized on Thursday five negotiators seeking the release of
\n11 kidnapped plywood workers, an officer said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"We have received news that the 16 hostages are basically
\nhealthy, but they need more rice,\" Merauke Police chief Adj. Sr.
\nComr. Mulyono said by phone from the remote negotiation site in
\nAsiki district, a jungle area near the border of Papua New
\nGuinea.<\/p>\n
Mulyono, Assistant for Intelligence to the Trikora Military
\nCommander, Col. Armin Tone, and Merauke district deputy chief
\nBenyamin Simatupang, accompanied by two platoons of Police Mobile
\nBrigade (Brimob), were negotiating the release of the 16 hostages
\non Friday, but as of 6:30 p.m. local time no deal had been
\nreached.<\/p>\n
Asiki district is about 12 hours drive from Merauke, a town
\nlocated about 900 kilometers south of the capital, Jayapura.<\/p>\n
Five people, including two Korean nationals, were kidnapped on
\nThursday while traveling to a remote jungle area to negotiate
\nwith the rebels.<\/p>\n
The rebels seized 11 plywood workers, including a South
\nKorean, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The kidnapped workers are employees of PT Korindo, a South
\nKorean timber company.<\/p>\n
A military source advised that the hostages have been moved
\nfurther to the border of Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
\"The kidnappers took the hostages on foot for about three days
\nwalking through the jungle,\" the source said.<\/p>\n
The kidnappers are reportedly members of the Papua Liberation
\nNational Army (TPN Papua) led by Willem Onde, an armed faction of
\nthe Merauke-based Free Papua Organization (OPM).<\/p>\n
An OPM post is located close to PT Korindo's compound in
\nMerauke.<\/p>\n
As of Friday evening no contact had been made with Willem
\nOnde.<\/p>\n
The kidnappers have demanded US$1 million in compensation for
\nenvironmental damage, the withdrawal of Brimob forces from the
\ndistrict of Asiki, and a total halt to logging.<\/p>\n
Irian Jaya Governor JP. Salossa asserted earlier on Thursday
\nthat the authorities will use persuasive approaches and dialogs
\nwith the rebels to free the hostages.<\/p>\n
\"We're doing our best to negotiate and avoid violence. We keep
\non trying and we haven't set any deadline. Repressive security
\noperation to rescue the hostages will be our last option,\"
\nSalossa said.<\/p>\n
Unconfirmed reports said that Willem Onde has a force of 500
\nmen operating near the border of Papua New Guinea and the
\nsouthern boundary of the Jayawijaya mountain range.<\/p>\n
In the past, OPM groups have committed abductions to draw
\ninternational attention to their cause.<\/p>\n
In the most notorious case in January 1996, separatist rebels
\nabducted 26 people, including seven Europeans, in the Mapenduma
\nhinterland for four months. They released 15 hostages and nine
\nothers were rescued by soldiers.<\/p>\n
Two Indonesians were murdered by the rebels during the rescue
\noperation. (34\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/separatist-rebels-take-five-negotiators-hostage-1447893297",
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