Two hostages found dead in Irian Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): The two remaining hostages, abducted by Irianese separatist rebels last month, were found dead in a ravine yesterday, Antara quoted Lt. Col. Maulud Hidayat, a spokesman of the Trikora Military Command, as saying.

Tumaji, 19, and Maksum, 28, were murdered by their captors, he told the news agency in Jayapura, capital of Irian Jaya.

"Judging from the bodies, they were tortured and hanged. One of them was found with his hands tied behind his back. There was a rope mark on his neck," Maulud said, quoting a report that he had received from the Rajawali military unit which has hunted the rebels since the kidnapping began on Aug. 14.

"They seemed to have been tortured while being tied up. They were killed and their bodies were dumped into a ravine," he said.

Fourteen workers of PT Kamundan Raya, a logging company of the diversified Djajanti Group, were abducted from their base camp, about 60 km north of Timika, by a group of armed tribesmen. The military said the group was led by M. Yogi, the leader of an Irianese separatist group.

Some of the hostages were released or abandoned, or they escaped, while the military hunted the rebels through thick jungle. The military ruled out negotiations with the kidnappers, whose chief demand was an end to logging in the area.

Some of the former hostages identified the two bodies yesterday, said Antara. The news agency did not say whether the military operation to hunt down the kidnappers was continuing.

Troops clashed with the rebels at least once, killing one of them.

This is the second major kidnapping by Irianese separatists this year. A group of young scientists, including six Europeans, were abducted while undertaking research in Irian Jaya in January. All of them were released in May, except two Indonesian hostages who were slain by the rebels. Their abductors have not yet been arrested.

Col. (infantry) Frand de Wanna, the commandant of the Rajawali task force, said that because the terrain was difficult, the two bodies would not be evacuated to Timika, the nearest landing strip, until tomorrow.

They were found near a small, remote village called Dania, northeast of the base camp from which they were abducted.

Antara reported that the other former hostages were slowly recovering.

One of them, La Arman, who was found Monday after trekking through the jungle for five days, has regained consciousness, and the wounds sustained during his escape are drying.

The chief representative of the Djajanti Group in Jayapura, Busli Saraka, said the former hostages would be given leave and sent to their home villages before they returned to work.

Busli said that all the former hostages have expressed their intention to continue working for the company. (emb)