An Australian archaeology professor has been kidnapped at gunpoint in Papua New Guinea s Southern Highlands. The abduction, with a $1.4m ransom, comes two weeks after that of a Kiwi pilot.
Phillip Mehrtens Mehrtens, a former pilot for Australia s Jetstar airlines now flying for Indonesian company Susi, was abducted by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) last week
Egianus Kogoya (circled), the leader of rebel group TPNPB, is now holding pilot Phillip Mehrtens as a bargaining chip to boost his rebels efforts to win independence from Indonesia
The separatist rebel pictured holding hands with the pilot taken hostage in remote West Papua is a 23-year-old psychopath terrorist responsible for murder, rape and a massacre.