JAKARTA: Jakarta and Wellington denied on Monday (Sep 23) a claim by rebels in Indonesia's restive region of Papua that a New Zealand pilot was freed from captivity over the weekend after they received payment from a local leader.
New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens talks to the media during a news conference after his release, in Timika, Papua province, Indonesia on Saturday, Sep 21, 2024. JAKARTA: Jakarta and Wellington denied on Monday a claim by rebels in Indonesia 's restive region of Papua that a New Zealand pilot was freed from captivity over the weekend after they received payment from a local leader.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters quickly rubbished any suggestion that Wellington was involved in payment for Mehrtens' release, saying it was diplomacy that secured his freedom. "All the work that's done by these people of all sorts, including officials, working as hard as they can and as cautiously as they can – not to make a mistake or be offensive and for things to fail – has now been trammelled by the allegation of a bribe."The spokesman for the joint Indonesian task force of police and military that collected Mehrtens said no money was given directly to the rebels.
The rebels had said foreign nationals were targets because their governments had ties with Indonesia, from which they are seeking independence.
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