JAKARTA – Security forces in Indonesia's restive Papua region have surrounded separatists holding captive a New Zealand pilot, but will exercise restraint while negotiations for his release continue, a top security official said on Tuesday (Feb 28). Philip Mehrtens, a Susi Air pilot, was taken hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army on Feb 7 after landing in the...
A man identified as Philip Mehrtens , the New Zealand pilot said to be held hostage, with the separatist fighters in Indonesia's Papua region, in this handout photo by the West Papua National Liberation Army, released on Feb 14.JAKARTA – Security forces in Indonesia's restive Papua region have surrounded separatists holding captive a New Zealand pilot, but will exercise restraint while negotiations for his release continue, a top security official said on Tuesday .
The rebels say they will not release Mehrtens, 37, unless Indonesia's government recognises the region's independence and withdraws its troops. "Now they are under siege, and we already know their location. But we must be careful," Mahfud said, according to local media.Separatists have waged a low-level fight for independence since the resource-rich region, once governed by the Netherlands, was brought under Indonesian control following a United Nations-supervised vote in 1969.Indonesia's military chief, Admiral Yudo Margono, said operations were complicated by the presence of civilians in the area.
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