Clergymen set to begin talks with Irian kidnappers today
Clergymen set to begin talks with Irian kidnappers today
JAKARTA (JP): Three clergymen will meet with kidnappers to mediate the release of the remaining 14 people who have entered their third week of being held hostage by members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Irian Jaya.
Plans to send the clergymen were made after news that the Indonesian military was extending their deadline for the hostages' release from Sunday to Monday (today), Antara news agency reported from Wamena, the regency capital of the province.
The three Protestant clergymen named to take part in the negotiations are Andrian van der Bejl, Johanes Gobai and Paul Boudhard.
The OPM abducted 24 people, including seven Europeans, from the village of Mapunduma in the Tiom district on Jan. 8.
Last week nine hostages were freed and another, German Frank Momberg, was temporarily released. Momberg, who is supposed to return to the kidnappers, is reportedly still in Wamena.
The military has been in contact with the kidnappers by radio and has established a camp in Wamena, the closest town to Mapunduma where the OPM kidnappers are thought to be hiding out.
The kidnappers' initial demand for an airplane and a civilian pilot was promptly turned down by the military. However, requests for food and medical supplies have been met.
A special military team to deal with the crisis has been formed under the command of Brig. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, commander of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).
The abduction of the Europeans has drawn international attention to the crisis, with foreign observers and negotiators from Scotland Yard now in Irian Jaya to lend their assistance.
The six remaining Europeans still being held are Brits Daniel Start, William Oates, Anna McIvor and Annette van der Kolk, along with Dutch citizens Mark van der Wal and Martha Klien, who is reportedly six-months pregnant.
Military officials in Irian Jaya could not be reached yesterday evening and there has been no official confirmation from them on today's planned negotiations with the clergymen.
Meanwhile, reports from Irian Jaya's provincial capital of Jayapura said that the two high school students who were abducted by another group of OPM separatists on Nov. 22, 1995, will soon be freed.
An Indonesian diplomat in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea (PNG), was quoted by Antara as saying that the two students would be handed to PNG officials yesterday.
Supeno Said, assistant consul in the PNG town, added that Indonesian officials would not be allowed to attend.
He could not confirm when the two students would be returned to Indonesia.
Cousins Marwiyah Abubakar and Muhammad Basyir Kadir, both students in Arso, a village near the border area, are believed to have been taken across the border by their captors.
A ransom of Rp 34 million (US$14,800) for their release was rejected earlier by the Indonesian government.
The fate of another hostage, Riyanto, an employee of state- owned company Bina Marga, who was abducted at Ikcan Baru village in the Waropko regency on Nov. 8, is still unknown.
Riyanto's colleague was found dead not long after the incident. The two were conducting a survey for the construction wof a trans-Irian road.(mds)