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