Hubby's photo saves life of hostages

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A tearful encounter with family members here on Thursday ended the extraordinary journey of Istiqomah binti Misnad and Casingkem binti Kaspin, two Indonesian maids freed after being taken hostage in Iraq last week.

Istiqomah, 32, and Casingkem, 24, were reunited with their husbands, Sugiyanto and Diding Ismail respectively, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices in Jakarta. Istiqomah's uncle Ihsan Sudahman was silent, but emotional, while Casingkem's mother Karsini could not hold back her tears.

The two families arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday after being notified that an Iraq-based militant group released Istiqomah, of Banyuwangi in East Java, and Casingkem, of Indramayu in West Java.

The two maids come from low-income family backgrounds, and were compelled by economic circumstances to seek jobs overseas.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over Rp 5 million (US$555) in aid to each family during the meeting that symbolically ended the week-long hostage-taking drama in Iraq for them.

"Praise God, we've finally arrived back in Indonesia. My days in Iraq were real agony," Istiqomah said.

She admitted, however, that she was traveling with a forged passport to work as a maid in Jordan with the sponsorship of labor recruitment agency PT Sabrina located in Condet, East Jakarta.

Istiqomah said she identified herself to her captors as Rosidah binti Amuh, a name that was then quoted by the ministry to identify her after seeing the footage on Al-Jazeera television.

"I traveled on Rosidah's passport. My own passport was being kept with Ibu Riana of PT Sabrina," she said.

Istiqomah said she was kidnapped and blindfolded when her vehicle and two other cars were traveling to Iraq from Jordan.

In order to prove that the two hostages were Indonesian Muslims, the kidnappers asked them to recite the Koran, and they passed this test.

The kidnappers also accused the women of being the wives of Western men. "I don't know who were the men they were referring to. Luckily, I brought a photo of my husband. I showed them his picture and they believed me," Istiqomah said.

After being convinced, the captors treated them well. Istiqomah said she and Casingkem were released after the kidnappers saw President Megawati Soekarnoputri make an appeal on Al-Jazeera.

"I could not stop crying and refused to eat. I just wanted to go home. They told me to calm down and 'Insya Allah (God willing), you will return home to Indonesia," Istiqomah said.

Casingkem, however, refused to speak during Thursday's media gathering.

The two women arrived in Jakarta from Abu Dhabi on Thursday afternoon and were directly taken to a meeting with Megawati, who asked them to recall their ordeal in Iraq.

"We are very happy today because two of our citizens, who were taken hostage in Iraq, have returned home safely," Megawati said after the 15-minute meeting.

The President urged all Indonesians to comply with proper legal procedures before working abroad in order to make it easy for the government to track them down and provide necessary protection.

"We often face difficulties identifying and locating our migrant workers, which makes it even harder for us to decide on measures needed to keep them safe," she said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Marty Natalegawa said about 40 Indonesians are believed to live in Iraq, including eight students and others who are married to Iraqis. He reiterated calls for them to fly home as soon as possible.

After the reunion at the ministry, Istiqomah and Casingkem were taken to meet with Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea. Present were representatives from government- appointed labor exporting companies PT Sabrina Paramitha and PT Akbar Insan Prima, both believed to have recruited and sent the two maids overseas.

"A preliminary probe shows that most of the institutions involved have contributed to illegal departures of migrant workers overseas," Jacob said.

He said his office and the National Police would jointly investigate the case of Istiqomah and Casingkem thoroughly to prevent similar ordeals in the future.