Ansor denies its members have kidnapped Arutmin employee

Lawyers representing residents of Sepapah village, Kotabaru regency in East Kalimantan and the chief of the local branch of the Ansor youth movement denied charges that some of the residents and the organization's members have kidnapped an employee of coal mine operator PT Arutmin Indonesia, Balik Papan Pos reported on Monday.

They said that the accusation made by director general of general mining that the Sepapah residents, with the help of the members of Ansor, the youth arm of the Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama, that they had kidnapped the company's employee.

Director General of General Mining Surna T Djajadiningrat reported to the local authority and related government offices early this year that D. Tenda, employee of PT Arutmin, had been kidnapped by a group of youth who claimed themselves to represent GP Ansor and the local branch of NU, which was chaired by President Abdurrahman Wahid before the later was appointed as the President.

In his letter, Surna asked the local security authority to help the kidnapped employee of Arutmin and to protect the company's other employees.

Sources said that the kidnapping was inked to a dispute over the ownership of 300-hectare land between the company and the local residents. (*)