GAM frees 22 hostages but keeps Fery

GAM frees 22 hostages but keeps Fery

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The family of television cameraman Fery Santoro had their hopes
dashed yet again, as he and many other hostages the Acehnese
rebels had been holding were not among the 22 civilian captives
freed on Saturday.

The 22 are among more than 200 people who have been detained
by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) over the course of a military
operation to crush the guerrilla force in May last year.

The rebels handed the 22 hostages to the Indonesian Red Cross
(PMI) in the remote subdistrict of Peudawa in East Aceh, about 70
kilometers west of the regental capital of Langsa.

Separatist guerrillas said the RCTI cameraman sacrificed his
freedom and was prepared to be a "guarantor" for the safety of
other captives.

The rebels promised to release the rest of the hostages within
two days, depending on the security situation in the field.

GAM East Aceh operations commander Ishak Daud led a ceremony
to hand over the 22 captives to PMI officials, which was
witnessed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
officials, medical workers and dozens of journalists.

A journalist there told The Jakarta Post the 22 civilians were
all in good shape. They were taken to Langsa to undergo a medical
checkup at a hospital guarded by dozens of police, soldiers and
military police.

"As for Fery Santoro, GAM asked for fresh negotiations with
the PMI and the military," he said, while asking to remain
anonymous.

"A team of negotiators, including those from the Independent
Journalists Alliance (AJI), is currently visiting Fery in the
mountainous Lhokjok area," the unnamed journalist said.

GAM spokesman Teuku Cut Kafrawi told AFP the rebels had
intended to release Santoro, but his escorts changed their minds
when they became worried after seeing soldiers in the distance
while going to a release point.

Fery was abducted by rebels along with senior RCTI reporter
Ersa Sori Siregar, two Acehnese women -- Cut Soraya and Cut
Farida, the wives of Air Force officers -- acting as translators
and a driver, Rachmatsyah, while traveling to Langsa from
Peureulak area on June 29, 2003.

Rachmatsyah managed to escape last December, only days before
Ersa was shot dead in what the military claimed to be a gunfight
between soldiers and GAM members.

The two Acehnese women also walked free in February.

Earlier on Saturday morning, PMI chairman Mar'ie Muhammad said
he was optimistic his mission would be successful, although it
was unknown how many hostages would be released.

A number of PMI volunteers, a translator, a rebel lawyer and
five ambulances, six doctors and nurses had headed to the release
point at around 9 a.m.

The handover of the captives to the PMI attracted the
attention of locals in the capital city of Banda Aceh. They
monitored developments on television and radio stations that
aired news of the release.

An Acehnese, Abdullah, urged the GAM guerrillas to keep their
promise, saying the civilian detainees have been separated from
their families and relatives for long time.

GAM has said it would release all of the detainees, whom it
had previously described as spies for the military, refusing to
call them hostages.

Martial law commander Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said his forces
had halted operations in the Langsa area, where the hostages were
to be released.

The government said on Thursday it would lift martial law and
instead place Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam under a state of civil
emergency.