Military, rebels in standoff over Irian hostages
Military, rebels in standoff over Irian hostages
JAKARTA (JP): Irian Jaya separatist rebels and the military
appeared to be facing off yesterday on the question of the 14
people still being held captive by the rebels, with no progress
reported from their talks.
"There has been no new development today," a military
spokesman in Jayapura, capital of Irian Jaya, told The Jakarta
Post by phone last night.
Armed Forces chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Suwarno Adiwijoyo
earlier said the military was using "persuasion" with the rebels
to secure a release of the hostages.
"We're still trying to secure their release by persuasion,"
Suwarno told Antara.
He denied an earlier press report that a military operation to
free the hostages had been halted. "What's there to stop in the
first place? We haven't launched a military action."
The military has set up a command post in Wamena, the main
town about 160 km from Mapunduma, the village where the rebels,
estimated at 200, have settled in with the hostages.
Supervising the operation there is Brig. Gen. Prabowo
Subianto, the chief of the Special Force Command, the Army's most
fearsome unit with long experience in putting down rebellions and
fighting terrorism.
The authorities have already ruled out "negotiations" with the
rebels, although they have met some of their demands such as
sending food, medicine and three missionaries to the rebels'
hideout in Mapunduma in the mountainous Jayawijaya regency.
The government's "no negotiation" policy was echoed by the
Presidential office in Jakarta yesterday.
"We will not bow to terrorism," Minister/State Secretary
Moerdiono told reporters when asked if President Soeharto had
reacted to the news of the hostage-taking. "The Armed Forces has
a certain standard procedure in handling terrorism," he said.
The military has already rejected the rebels' demand for an
airplane with a civilian pilot in return for the release of the
hostages. It was not immediately clear whether the rebels had
also demanded ransom money.
The hostages, who spent their ninth day in captivity
yesterday, were members of a flora and fauna expedition to the
Lorentz nature reserve near the Baliem Valley.
The foreign hostages include four Britons from Cambridge
University: Daniel Start, William P. Oates, Annette van der Kolk
and Anna McIvor. Two Dutch citizen: Mark van der Wal from the
World Wildlife Fund for Nature and Martha Klein, a member of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The eight Indonesian hostages include four people from the
Biological Science Club in Jakarta which organizes the project.
Another WWF staffer, Frank Momberg from Germany, was released
on Monday, originally only to relay the rebels' messages to the
military. However, by yesterday, he had not returned to rejoin
his colleague as originally agreed.
The WWF office in Jakarta in a statement yesterday reminded
the military of its obligation to honor its side of the bargain.
"Without wishing to interfere with those in authority, we
would like to urge the Army to follow through with its stated
intention so as to safeguard the well-being of the other
hostages," according to the statement signed by WWF Indonesian
Program Representative Russell Betts.
The rebels took 26 people hostage on Jan. 8. They released
nine Mapunduma village officials on Friday, Momberg on Monday,
and then a woman with her six-month old baby on Tuesday.
The Dutch, British and German embassies have sent their
military attaches to Jayapura to observe the talks between the
military and rebels.
Also in the area are British hostage experts, part of a team
involved in the hostage crisis in India's Kashmir state, where
guerrillas have held four Western tourists for six months,
according to Reuters.
Meanwhile Jayapura Bishop Herman Munninghoff renewed the
church's offer to mediate between the authorities and the rebels
to secure the release of the hostages, Antara reported.
Monsignor Munninghoff was one of three missionaries who were
sent to meet the rebels on Monday, but they failed to secure the
release of the hostages. (emb)