<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A rebel group in Indonesia’s eastern region of Papua said today it will release a New Zealand pilot it has held hostage for a year.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>It was unclear when the pilot, Philip Mehrtens, who was kidnapped exactly a year ago when he landed a small commercial plane in a mountainous area, would be released.</div><div><br></div><div>Terianus Satto of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), one of several groups fighting for Papua’s independence from Indonesia, said in a statement that Mehrtens will be released to “protect humanity and … human rights”.</div><div><br></div><div>“TPNPB will return the pilot Philip Max Martherns to his family through the jurisdiction of the secretary-general of the United Nations,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>New Zealand’s ministry of foreign affairs and trade did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</div><div><br></div><div>A low-level but increasingly deadly battle for independence has been waged in the resource-rich western half of the island of Papua since it was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.</div><div><br></div><div>Indonesia’s government and military, which have struggled to stamp out the separatist movement, had said they were in negotiations to free the pilot. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>