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)