Two hostages freed: Officer<\/p>\n
Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru<\/p>\n
After more than a week, a group of criminals claiming to be
\nmembers of the secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Sunday
\nfinally freed two hostages, a senior Navy officer said on Monday.<\/p>\n
The hostages, both crew members on the tanker Tri Samudra
\nIntermoda, were flown to Jakarta after PT Humpuss Transport Tbk.,
\nthe owner of the ship, paid a ransom of Rp 600 million
\n(US$64,000). This was less than the Rp 2 billion earlier demanded
\nby the pirates, said Lt. Col. Nora Lelyana, chief of Dumai Naval
\nBase.<\/p>\n
The officer said that the tanker was hijacked on Saturday,
\nMarch 12. \"The two are in good health,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Nora said that the release had not involved security
\npersonnel. The pirates had threatened that they would kill the
\nhostages if they discovered security personnel involved in the
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
From Lhokseumawe waters, the two were taken to a Lhokseumawe
\nbeach, then transported to Medan by car, where the exchange of
\nransom and hostages took place between the pirates and
\nrepresentatives of PT Humpuss Transport.<\/p>\n
The two hostages were identified as Made Marjuned, the tanker
\ncaptain, and Andi Sulaiman, the head machinist.<\/p>\n
The tanker, which was carrying methanol, was on its way from
\nSamarinda, East Kalimantan to Medan. It was hijacked by a group
\nof 30 armed men in Berhala waters, North Sumatra on March 12.<\/p>\n
The pirates stole Rp 25 million from the tanker's crew, and
\ntook hostage two crew members.<\/p>\n
The remaining 14 crew then took the ship to the Sei Pakning
\nseaport in Bengkalis regency, Riau province for security reasons.
\nAll of them have returned to Jakarta.<\/p>",
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