FM tries to clarify hostages' names
FM tries to clarify hostages' names
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the drama of two Indonesian women taken hostage in Iraq by a group of terrorists unfolded, it became increasingly confusing for the world just what their names were. The government here did not know, it was not clear who their families were or how they got there.
Indonesia Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda offered up on Tuesday yet new names for the women, calling one Casingkem binti Aspin, not Novitasari binti Sugito.
The other one is believed to go by the name of Rosidah binti Amuh, instead of the most recently announced name Istiqomah binti Misnad, and both were migrant workers employed as maids.
If their passports were correct, Hassan said, it appeared that Casingkem was from the West Java town of Indramayu, and Rosidah from Banyuwangi in East Java.
He also said that the workers were sent there by local labor exporter PT Sabrina, Detik.com news portal reported.
This was the third time the ministry had changed the names of the women. Earlier, the two women were identified as Rosidah binti Anom and Rafikan binti Aming. On Monday, Hassan announced the women as Istiqomah and Novitasari.
Hassan also said that they had fake names and addresses on their passports.
"Based on the passport obtained from our embassy in Jordan, we acknowledged the name of the two Indonesian migrant workers as Rosidah and Casingkem. We have also verified this information with (Casingkem's) family in Indramayu," Hassan was quoted by Antara as saying.
He added that ministry staff had visited the Novitasari family in Malang, East Java, but the family said the photo in newspapers while they were still being held hostage was not their Novitasari. The family said that Novitasari was safe and working in Riyadh, Antara reported.
Contrary to previous statements (that they were working for a British electronics firm), the two women were going to be employed as maids, and had just left Indonesia on Sept. 23, Hassan said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the women had left Baghdad and were in transit in Amman. They will arrive in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening for a medical checkup.
"We will arrange for their return to Indonesia as soon as possible," Hassan said without elaborating.
The Qatar-based TV station Al-Jazeera reported on Thursday that the two Indonesian women were taken hostage by a militant group calling itself The Islamic Army, along with eight other hostages including six Iraqis and two Lebanese men.
The fate of the other hostages was still unknown. The Islamic Army in Iraq is believed to be the same group holding two French journalists hostage for more than a month.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri had made a public appeal on Saturday for the hostages' release on humanitarian grounds .