Govt toughens stance against Irian Jaya rebels

Govt toughens stance against Irian Jaya rebels

JAKARTA (JP): The government has toughened its stance against
Irian Jaya rebels who are still holding 14 people, including six
Europeans, hostage, saying that while it was prepared to talk
with them, it would not negotiate.

The rebels yesterday released two hostages who were not
previously listed among those being held. They were the wife of
Jacobus and their six-month old baby. Jacobus remained in
captivity along with 13 others, according to the military.

As talks continued between rebels and the military, the
remaining Indonesian and foreign hostages have written letters to
their relatives to inform them that they are in good health and
to ask for prayers for their safety, TVRI reported.

The military and the Irian Jaya provincial administration
stressed on separate occasions yesterday that the hostages must
be released unharmed.

"There will be no negotiations with them," Armed Forces Chief
Gen. Feisal Tanjung told reporters in Jakarta.

"We want to solve this problem in the best possible way. We
will talk to them, (but) the hostages must be released unharmed.
And then, we shall see," he said. He declined to go further,
saying he could not disclose details of the military operation.

The operation is being supervised by Brig. Gen. Prabowo
Subianto, the chief of the Army's Special Command Force, from a
post established in the Irian Jaya town of Wamena. The rebels are
believed to have settled in the Mapunduma village about 160
kilometers away in the mountainous Jayawijaya regency.

By yesterday afternoon, the military had not allowed Frank
Momberg, a German who was released on Monday to relay the rebels'
message, return to Mapunduma as previously agreed. One report
said he was undergoing medical treatment in Wamena.

The military has already met some of the rebels' demands,
including their requests for food and medicine, and for three
missionaries (not four as was first reported) to be sent to them.

A request for a plane or a helicopter with a civilian pilot in
return for the release of all the hostages has been turned down.

Irian Jaya Governor Jacob Pattipi meanwhile told Antara that
the government will not succumb to the rebels' ransom demands.

"We will continue talking about their release, but we will
reject giving any kind of ransom, just as we have rejected the
ransom demand for the release of two senior high school
students," Pattipi said, referring to the abduction of two
teenagers by separatist rebels last month.

The two students are currently held by the rebels in Papua New
Guinea. A ransom for Rp 34 million ($14,800) had been demanded
for their release.

Grave mistake

Giving in to the rebels' demands would be a grave mistake
because the money would be used to buy more guns and kidnapping
for ransom would become fashionable, Pattipi said.

The 14 hostages still held by the rebels were all members of a
flora and fauna expedition in the Laurentz nature reserve. The
four Britons in the group are Daniel Start, William Oates,
Annette van der Kolk and Anna McIvor. There are also two Dutch
citizens: Mark van der Wal and Martha Klein, and eight
Indonesians, mostly from Jakarta.

Pattipi said the rebels had mistaken the Lorentz expedition
for a team from PT Freeport Indonesia, the American copper and
gold mining company with a huge operation in Irian Jaya.

He said the rebels' leader, Kelly Kwalik, had a personal
grudge against Freeport because he lost out in a land conflict
with the mining company in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, reports from Mapunduma suggested that the rebels
did not have the support of the villagers, Antara reported.

The village leaders, according to the news agency, have made
an oath that the entire village's 2,000 population would kill the
rebels if they slay any of the hostages.

Even the rebels appear to be divided, with some wanting to
release the hostages and others insisting on continuing the
crisis, according to military intelligence.

Two tribal chiefs in Wamena have also condemned the kidnapping
of innocent people.

Mapile Hubby of the Hubby Kossy tribe and Apemosi Hubby of the
Hubby Asso tribe told Antara that abduction is not recognized in
Irian's tribal war practices. "You either win or lose. But you
don't abduct anybody," Apemosi said. (emb/imn)