Indonesians hostage in Sri Lanka ferry attack

Indonesians hostage in Sri Lanka ferry attack

COLOMBO (AFP): Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas destroyed a passenger ferry yesterday and took its nine-member crew hostage, including two Indonesians, according to officials and the owners of the vessel.

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas boarded the ferry, the MV Misen, near the northwestern coastal town of Pesali and grabbed the crew, the Defense Ministry said.

It said another civilian ferry alerted the security forces to the attack on the MV Misen but as navy gunboats approached the area, the Tigers escaped together with the nine crewmen aboard four speed boats.

The attackers torched the MV Misen as it prepared to take about 300 passengers to Jaffna as part of the government's effort to re-settle Tamil civilians displaced by fighting there in 1995, the ministry said.

The 500-seater vessel was skippered by an Indonesian, Nang Hadi, the Sri Lankan owner of the vessel said, adding that the chief engineer was also an Indonesian identified as Imam Wahyudi.

Officials said the vessel had already done two trips ferrying Tamil civilians to Jaffna when it was attacked.

The ferry provides a crucial bridge to Jaffna because the main land route is held by the Tigers and fighting is raging for control of the land access to the peninsula.

The owners of the vessel said they were in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to secure the release of the crew but there was no immediate word about their fate.