Indonesian rebels say they're ready to free a New Zealand pilot taken hostage a year ago

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua region have expressed their readiness to release a New Zealand pilot who was taken hostage exactly a year ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua region expressed their readiness Wednesday to release a New Zealand pilot who was taken hostage a year ago.

Independence fighters led by Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, stormed a single-engine plane on a small runway in Paro and abducted Philip Mark Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023. The pilot from Christchurch was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air.

Kogoya said the group would not free Mehrtens unless Indonesia's government allowed Papua to become a sovereign country.

But Terianus Satto, a leader of the Free Papua Movement's armed wing, said in a Wednesday statement that the West Papua Liberation Army, known as TPNPB, was willing to let Mehrtens go and expected the United Nations to facilitate. Satto did not give a time frame for a possible handover.

“In order to protect humanity and ensure human rights, the management of the national command headquarters of the the West Papua Liberation Army will return Philip Mark Mehrtens to his family,” the statement said.