Crisis team in Jordan to secure release of journalists

Adianto P. Simamora and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Six days after two Indonesian journalists were kidnapped in Iraq, their whereabouts remained unknown as a crisis settlement team leading efforts to secure their release arrived in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday.

Metro TV reporter Meutya Hafid and cameraman Budiyanto were abducted on Tuesday by gunmen near the city of Ramadi, known as a hotspot for rebels, while traveling by road from Amman to Baghdad.

The team, led by Triyono Wibowo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who also helped with the release of two Indonesian women abducted in Iraq last year, arrived at 10 a.m. in Jordan's capital. A special Metro TV team led by owner Surya Paloh has also arrived in Amman.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Sunday the team would first meet several parties in Amman, among others officials at the Indonesian Embassy office, "to know what efforts are already being taken." They are also meeting with officials of the foreign ministry in Jordan and will also meet with the Metro TV team.

Marty urged all Indonesian journalists currently working in Iraq to return home because of concerns for their security.

Triyono's team will also disseminate a public appeal from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who on Friday urged the release of the journalists. Susilo stressed the pair were in Iraq in their capacity as journalists.

The appeal followed broadcasts by the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network, showing the journalists being held hostage by unidentified gunmen, who demanded that the Indonesian government explain why the two were in Iraq.

The President's message has been translated into Arabic and spread to the media in Ramadi and Baghdad, Marty said.

"We're now waiting for the captors' response."

The pair were being held by the little-known Jaish al- Mujahedeen, or Army of Warriors, according to Al-Jazeera.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Association of Indonesian Television Journalists (IJTI) have also demanded the release of their colleagues, citing the Geneva Convention that says press workers are among civilians who must be guaranteed protection by disputing parties.

Secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Din Syamsuddin told detik.com online news service on Sunday that he had made appeals in Arab and Indonesian for the journalists' release. Former president Abdurrahman Wahid has contacted colleagues in Jordania, Iraq and Egypt to seek assistance, and has made a statement for their release in Arabic through the Al- Jazeera channel, Antara reported.

Koran Tempo journalist Ahmad Taufik, who met Meutya and Budiyanto the night before they went missing, wrote that during dinner on Monday, they had talked of being homesick. Budiyanto, who always kept a miniature Koran with him, had told him he was expecting his second child, while Meutya had bought some gifts for her family in Jakarta.

They were scheduled to leave for Baghdad from Amman by midnight. But their vehicle was late and they left on Tuesday at 2:30 a.m., Taufik wrote in his report.