Irian rebels resume contact with military

Irian rebels resume contact with military

JAKARTA (JP): Irian Jaya separatist rebels who are holding 13
people captive, including six Europeans, made radio contact with
the military yesterday, their first in four days as the hostage
drama entered its 23d day.

Two senior Army officers who had been supervising the
military's rescue mission meanwhile left Wamena, the town that
hosts the military command post, for Jakarta in another signal
that the crisis is not about to end in the near future.

"We made contact this morning at 6 a.m.," Captain Edi
Sulistiadi, an information officer of the Trikora Command in
Jayapura, told The Jakarta Post by phone last night.

Edi said the radio contact was not made by the rebel leader
Kelly Kwalik, but by one of his men, Naftali Wanimbo.

He declined to give details of the communication between the
rebels and the military, but said that Naftali had promised to
contact the military again this morning.

However, Antara reported that during the communication, the
rebels warned the military against using force to secure the
release of the hostages. They also expressed apprehension at the
repeated sound of helicopters flying near their jungle hideout,
suggesting some military maneuvers were on the way.

The Jayawijaya Military Chief Lt. Col. Sumertha Ayub told
Antara that the military is still committed to resolving the
crisis by peaceful means, hoping that the rebels would be
persuaded to release their hostages.

Sumertha explained that the orders from senior military
leaders is to continue to use persuasion.

It was not immediately clear whether the rebels were still in
their hideout near Mapunduma village in the Jayawijaya regency,
where they settled after the abduction on Jan. 8, or whether they
had moved out.

The military had earlier said that during the absence of
contact for the past four days, the rebels had attempted to move
to a new location, taking with them the hostages and local
villagers.

Antara also reported that Brig. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, the
chief of the Special Forces who had been supervising the military
operation in Wamena, had left for Jakarta.

Brig. Gen. Zacky A. Makarim, the director of the Armed Forces'
Intelligence Agency, was also seen in the Wamena airport about to
board a flight to Jayapura.

"I've got to go back to Jakarta for some business," he told
the news agency.

The rebels kidnapped 26 people on Jan. 8 in Mapunduma in the
remote Balliem Valley and are still holding 13 of them, including
four Britons and two Dutch people.

They have released 12 residents of Mapunduma and German
researcher Frank Momberg of the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature.
(imn)