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 .