Military frees nine hostages

Military frees nine hostages

JAKARTA (JP): Six Europeans and three Indonesians held hostage
by Irian Jaya separatist rebels since January were flown from the
eastern province to Jakarta last night following their release by
the Army's Special Force Command on Wednesday.

Also on board the transport plane were the bodies of two
colleagues who did not survive the ordeal. The two men, Navy
Panekanan and Yoshias Lasamahu, were slain by their abductors
before the military could rescue them.

Upon their arrival in Jakarta, the survivors were driven to
the Army's Gatot Subroto Hospital for further examination and
treatment.

Among the nine were four Britons: Daniel Start, William P.
Oates, Annette van der Kolk and Anna McIvor. The two Dutch
nationals were Mark van der Wal and Martha Klein, who is eight
months pregnant. The three Indonesians were Adinda Saraswati,
Jualita Maurren Tanasale and Markus Warip.

They were members of a scientific expedition who were abducted
by Irian Jaya separatist rebels on Jan. 8 in Jayawijaya regency.

Their freedom came in a sweeping military operation when all
efforts to persuade the rebels to free the hostages peacefully
had failed.

One hundred members of the elite Army's Special Force Command
were involved in the operation in the jungle near Geselama
village in Jayawijaya.

Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono
said last night that eight of the rebel kidnappers were killed in
the running battle.

He earlier said that two rebels were captured alive.

"In freeing the hostages, we had a little opposition. Eight
people were killed," he said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport while
awaiting the arrival of the survivors. "The troops were
confronted by six armed kidnappers, but there were also around
200 local people armed with bows and machetes."

There were no casualties on the part of the military, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether rebel leaders Kelly
Kwalik and Daniel Yudas Kogoya were among those who died.

Soeyono said the Europeans will be handed over to their
respective embassies, while the Indonesian survivors will be
returned to their families.

The military launched the rescue operation on May 9, after the
International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) abandoned its
mission to secure the safe release of the hostages.

"The military operation was undertaken because the 'persuasive
approach' that had been tried before failed," Soeyono said.
"Kelly Kwalik and Daniel Yudas Kogoya were stubborn, and their
demands for a separate state were impossible."

"It became increasingly clear that the military operation was
necessary because the church missionary's approach was also
disregarded by the rebels," he said. "Besides, they just did not
care about the safety of the hostages."

Soeyono said the rescue team spotted the rebels in the jungle
through thermal detection by a pilotless drone about 2 a.m. on
Wednesday.

Troops were then lowered on cables from four helicopters into
Geselama village, where the rebels were believed to have held
negotiations with the ICRC these past few weeks. "The village was
already empty. Our troops found fresh footprints, medication and
the belongings of the hostages," Soeyono said.

Soeyono said, Martha Klein, who is eight months pregnant, had
been using a special medication. Dogs had picked up this scent
and helped track the group.

Intermittent fighting between the soldiers and the rebels
continued through dense jungle over a five square kilometer area
until the first group of eight hostages was found at around 3
p.m.

The general said the ninth hostage, 21-year-old Anna McIvor,
was found an hour later. He said she told her rescuers she had
seen the rebels slash the other two Indonesian hostages, one in
the arm and the other in the neck.

Soeyono said it appeared the two had bled to death.

"After we freed the eight hostages, about an hour later we
found Anna, who had been left behind. Anna said the other two
Indonesian hostages had been slashed," he said.

Soeyono said Klein had been wounded in the arm by a spear but
the injury was not serious.

The special force's commander, Brig. Gen. Prabowo Subianto,
was in Timika, Irian Jaya, yesterday to personally greet the
hostages and salute his troops.

The hostages had spent their first night in freedom in Timika,
where they had their medical checkup.

"We wanted to free all of the hostages unharmed, but
regretfully, two of them were killed brutally," Prabowo told
Antara news agency.

Asked if he regarded the rescue operation as an unqualified
success, Soeyono said: "When we started the operation, the
criteria was that all the hostages would be freed without harm.
At least we achieved 80 percent of all criteria."

He also said that the "rescue operation is over, but there are
other operations going on". He would not elaborate.

Relatives and friends of the hostages waited at the airport
yesterday along with representatives of the military and civilian
officials, diplomats from the Dutch and British embassies and
hundreds of journalists.

The father of Jualita Tanasale said his wife became ill with
excitement, while waiting for their daughter's arrival.

From Bandung, West Java, relatives of Yoshias said they wanted
his body to be buried in Bandung. (01/swe/mds)

Relief -- Page 2

Editorial -- Page 4