British hostages reach home

British hostages reach home

JAKARTA (JP): The four young British scientists recently freed
in a military operation after being held for four months by
separatist rebels in the jungles of Irian Jaya arrived in London
yesterday.

AFP reported that the young Cambridge University researchers,
looking pale and tired after a 17-hour flight, were greeted by
their families at Heathrow Airport before holding a press
conference.

Daniel Start, 21, William Oates, 23, Annette van der Kolk, 21,
and Anna McIvor, 20, told of their joy at returning to Britain
following their ordeal in the jungle.

"I'm looking forward to being back in time for a nice Sunday
lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding," Oates said.

"It's lovely to be back on a typical spring day -- cloudy and
wet, but not unlike the weather in the (Indonesian) forest,"
Start added.

Speaking of the Army raid during which they escaped from the
rebels of the Free Papua Movement last Wednesday, Start expressed
sadness at the death of two fellow captives, Indonesians Navy
Panekenan and Yosias Matheis Lasamahu, at the hands of the
rebels.

"We are hurt and in deep shock and sadness at such a visible
and brutal death," Start said.

Eight rebels were also killed in the operation to free the
four Britons, the two Dutch nationals and the five Indonesians.
The surviving Indonesians are Adinda Saraswati, Jualita Tanasale
and Markus Warip.

The rebels initially seized 26 hostages on Jan. 8. They
earlier released 15 hostages and only the 11 hostages remained in
their hands by Wednesday. The OPM rebels said the kidnapping was
aimed at gaining international publicity for their independence
demands.

Adinda described on state television on Friday how the rebels
killed her boyfriend Navy and her friend Yosias before she and
the other hostages could escape. The surviving hostages were
formally handed over to their families or to their ambassadors on
Friday.

According to Reuters, the two Dutch nationals -- Martha Klein,
who is eight months pregnant, and her companion Mark van der Wal
-- are to stay in Jakarta for a while. The three Indonesians have
been reunited with their families.

All but Klein and Van der Wal were members of an expedition to
the Lorentz nature reserve in Irian Jaya organized by England's
Cambridge University and the Jakarta Biological Sciences Club.

The surviving hostages met at a farewell lunch on Saturday
with officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), who had unsuccessfully mediated with the kidnappers for
their release.

Meanwhile, Antara quoted Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen.
Feisal Tanjung as vowing on Saturday that ABRI would continue
search operations to capture the rebel group.

"There is no time limit," Feisal said. "We will continue to
hunt them because they have to account for their deeds."

Brig. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, chief of the Army's elite force,
Kopassus, whose soldiers were instrumental in the freeing of the
hostages, has said that the military will hunt the OPM "until the
last drop of blood".

"There is no mercy for the OPM," he said.

Adinda described in her press statement how the hostages fled
their abductors during the confusion that followed the murder of
Navy and Yosias and met up with soldiers deployed in the military
rescue operation.

ABRI's Chief of General Affairs, Lt. Gen. Soeyono, said the
hostages were freed after an armed clash with the rebels. (swe)