Government won't negotiate with Irian rebels
Government won't negotiate with Irian rebels
JAKARTA (JP): The government reiterated yesterday that it will
not negotiate with the Irian Jaya rebels who have been holding 12
people hostage, including six Europeans, since Jan. 8.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas was quoted by Antara as
saying that the hostages must be released by the Free Papua
Movement (OPM) without any preconditions.
Alatas declined to comment directly on the offer of
negotiations by Moses Werror, the self-proclaimed OPM leader, who
now lives in Papua New Guinea.
Moses, in a telephone interview with the Kompas daily, said he
is willing to enter into negotiations with Alatas and other
government leaders as well as representatives of foreign
governments and the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC).
The rebels are demanding recognition of an independent state
in Irian Jaya, he said in the interview published yesterday.
Moses warned that if the government refuses to negotiate, or
if negotiations eventually break down, the rebels are prepared to
keep the hostages until the UN General Assembly in September.
Alatas, who was questioned before a cabinet meeting at the
Bina Graha presidential office, said he had not read the Kompas
report.
"We do not recognize their existence, and therefore it would
be impossible for the government to enter negotiations with
them," he said, in reference to the OPM.
Alatas said the kidnapping has already been widely condemned
by the world and Indonesia is using persuasive methods rather
than force to secure the hostages' release. "No one can fault us
for the way we are handling this hostage situation," he said.
Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung, who also attended the
cabinet meeting, said that the military is continuing to monitor
the hostage situation.
Asked whether the military is prepared to let the crisis
continue for a long time, Feisal said "Maybe they (the rebels)
are also waiting for the use of force."
Most of the 12 hostages were members of an expedition studying
flora and fauna in the Laurentz nature reserve in the Jayawijaya
regency. They include four Britons, two Dutch citizens and six
Indonesians.
Red Cross officials who met them last week said that they were
thin but otherwise healthy.
They and their abductors are currently believed to be in the
jungle near Wamena, the main town in the Jayawijaya regency.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that two officials of the Jakarta
office of the ICRC headed for Papua New Guinea yesterday to meet
Moses Weror.
"The ICRC officials left Jakarta last night for Port Moresby
through Singapore and are expected to arrive in Papua New Guinea
this afternoon," an ICRC source said. (emb)