Six more hostages freed in Irian Jaya
Six more hostages freed in Irian Jaya
JAKARTA (JP): Six more of the logging workers held hostage by
separatist rebels in Irian Jaya's jungles were released
yesterday, a military official said.
Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Amir Syarifuddin said three
were released in the morning, and three others in the afternoon
in a military operation that involved no shooting.
The six hostages were rescued by the Rajawali special forces
team, which also secured the release of three on Friday
afternoon.
Their were weak because they had gone without food for four
days, Antara news agency quoted Amir as saying.
The freed hostages are Sungkono, 42, Diyono, 26, Marjan, 24,
Suyono, 30, Wiji Wibowo, 18, and Winarsih, 27, the only female
hostage.
They were all taken to a hospital in Timika.
Amir said yesterday that efforts to rescue the remaining three
hostages -- Sumaji, 19, Laharman, 18 and Maskum, 28 -- were still
underway, with back-up from five helicopters.
The official said the absence of gunfire during the operations
on Friday and Saturday was because "the kidnappers were probably
too busy trying to escape the troops closing in on them so they
abandoned the nine people".
The hostages, all employees of PT Kamundan Raya, were taken
captive on Aug. 14 by a group of around 50 armed men.
The hostages numbered 16 at first, but several days after the
kidnapping, two of them managed to escape, and two others were
released to deliver a letter from the rebels to the authorities.
The military said the letter contained demands that the
Djajanti Group, the parent company of PT Kamundan Raya, leave the
area, and that the release of the hostages be arranged through
Tom Beanal, a local leader, and human rights organizations.
Antara reported that the leader of the Rajawali special
forces, Col. Frans Willem de Wanna, confirmed his team had shot
and killed Pius Orok Yane Magai Yogi earlier this week.
Yogi was believed to be a leader of the rebel group.
After killing Yogi, the Rajawali team dropped pamphlets across
the jungle requesting other members of the group, led by Tadius
Yogi, to surrender and release the remaining hostages peacefully.
Central Irian Jaya, the site of the hostage drama, is mostly
covered by mountainous jungles and experiences heavy rainfall,
with temperatures falling to as low as 10 degrees Celcius.
The Free Papua Organization (OPM), which has been seeking an
independent state in Irian Jaya since the late 1960s, has taken
other people hostage in the past.
In January, OPM members kidnapped 26 people, including seven
Europeans, in the jungles of Irian Jaya.
They released one foreigner and 14 of the Indonesian hostages.
In May, a military rescue operation, during which two Indonesian
hostages were killed, recovered the rest of the hostages. (pwn)