The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea announced on Sunday the release of a New Zealand archaeologist and two guides, hostages of an armed group in a remote region for a week.
“It has been a stressful week for everyone involved and finally seeing the hostages safe and sound in the custody of our security personnel is very important to us as a country,” Prime Minister James Marape said.
Archaeologist Bryce Barker and his two Papua New Guinean colleagues were seen escorted by police on the tarmac at the airport in Port-Moresby, the capital, on Sunday.
Mr. Barker, a professor at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, as well as the two guides, had been detained since last Sunday in a remote mountainous region, about 570 kilometers northwest of the capital.
The man was initially mistakenly identified as an Australian national.
A fourth hostage, also Papua New Guinean and who was part of the same group of academics, was released on Wednesday.
The Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers welcomed the news and thanked the Papua authorities.
Mr. Barker’s university colleagues also expressed their “relief”, reported the establishment’s vice-president, Geraldine Mackenzie.
The “highly respected” professor was on a research trip to this country which he knows well.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of one million dollars, a colossal sum for this country among the poorest in the region. The hostage takers then lowered their demands during a week of tense negotiations with the police.
The initial sum has not been paid, said Mr. Marape, who mentioned “secret operations” to free the hostages.
Papua’s authorities have little influence in the mountainous, jungle-covered hinterland, where tribal conflict and arms trafficking have increased in recent years.
26/02/2023 11:38:12 – Port Moresby (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
