/* Written 12:15 PM Jan 13, 1996 by apakabar@access.digex.net in igc:reg.indonesia */
/* ---------- "IN/IRJA: OPM Warns Against Rescue A" ---------- */
From: John MacDougall <apakabar@access.digex.net>
Subject: IN/IRJA: OPM Warns Against Rescue Attempt
/* Written 7:48 AM Jan 13, 1996 by gn:tapol in igc:reg.westpapua */
/* ---------- "OPM warns against rescue attempt" ---------- */
OPM warns against rescue attempts
Sydney Morning Herald, 13 January 1996
Dateline: Tembagapura
IRIANESE WARN RESCUE ATTEMPT WILL RISK
HOSTAGES' LIVES
Irianese separatists who are holding 14 people [this assumes
that ten have been released], including seven Europeans,
warned today that their lives would be at risk if Indonesian
troops tried to rescue them.
According to missionary broadcasts monitored by the
military, representatives of the Free Papua Movement (OPM)
entered a small village this morning with a demand that a
missionary from the town of Timika mediate to resolve the
crisis.
The OPM told villagers all the hostages were safe and being
held at a jungle hideout but their safety could not be
guaranteed if the military tried to rescue them by force.
Military sources said the British and German governments
had pressured Jakarta to rescue them. [Our impression is that
the British government would far prefer that the crisis be
resolved by negotiation.] Two helicopters today flew 100
commando troops from the elite Kopassus Brigade from the
capital, Jayapura, to Madnduma. Several hundred other
troops are believed to have fanned out in a wide arc west of
the village, apparently to encircle and trap the guerrillas.
Troops have also been stationed in villages to prevent the
separatists from obtaining supplies.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has intervened
to have the hostages released unharmed. The Indonesian
head of the Red Cross, Henri Fournier, flew to Timika today
to talk with military and missionary officials.