New Zealand pilot held hostage by Papua rebels appears alive in new videos

Pilot made to read out a statement from a piece of paper on camera

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province have released more photographs and videos appearing to show a kidnapped New Zealand pilot alive.

In a video, a man wearing a blue jacket is identified as Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air abducted by independence fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, last month.

He sat on a wooden block on the ground surrounded by separatists holding various weapons.

Mr Mehrtens from Christchurch was told to read a statement from a piece of paper he held.

He said foreign pilots are not allowed to work or fly in Papua until it is independent and the Free Papua Movement wants the United Nations to mediate independence negotiations.

In a separate video, Mr Mehrtens asked his family not to worry too much as he is being taken care of and has enough food and water.

He also asked for his salary to be sent directly to his wife.

Another video shows Egianus Kogoya, the leader of the separatist group, reading out demands.

“We ask the UN Security Council to mediate the armed conflict between West Papua Liberation Army and the Indonesian Military in Papua,” he said.

The group also asked New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the US, France, China and Russia to stop supporting military co-operation with Indonesia.

The videos distributed by the rebel group are part of their propaganda, regional military commander Juinta Omboh Sembiring said on Friday.

On 6 February, the West Papua Liberation Army stormed Mr Mehrtens’ single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro in the remote Nduga district.

The plane, carrying five passengers, was scheduled to pick up 15 construction workers who had been building a health centre in Paro.

The rebels released all five passengers because they are Indigenous Papuans, rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said.

Flying is the only practical way of accessing many parts of the mountainous area.

The 15 construction workers, who were rescued on February 8 by security forces, came from other Indonesian islands to build the health centre.

They had taken refuge in a priest’s house in the village for several days after rebels threatened to kill them.

On 14 February, Mr Sambom sent videos and photographs of a group of gunmen - led by Mr Kogoya - setting fire to the plane on the runway to the Associated Press.

Separatists consider civilian workers to be outsiders who sometimes spy for the Indonesian government.

In a statement in February, the Indonesian military said officers were taking a soft approach negotiating between the separatist group and religious and community leaders.

But officers are ready for selected and directed measurable legal actions.

Mr Sembiring said on Friday he will support the efforts from religious and community leaders to negotiate with the group.

Conflicts between Indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common in the impoverished Papua region, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham.

Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the mineral-rich region.

Conflict in the region has risen in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.