The ICRC removed itself from the negotiations and stated that the Indonesian Army was no longer bound by an agreement not to engage in combat with the hostage takers.

[5] The hostages comprised 20 Indonesians, four Britons, and two Dutch – the latter including a pregnant woman – and all were part of a World Wildlife Fund mission conducting biodiversity research.

[8] The Catholic Bishop of Jayapura, Herman Ferdinandus Maria Münninghoff, made contact with Kwalik on 25 January to begin negotiations.

The ICRC team were able to meet with a number of the hostages, under OPM supervision on this occasion and on their four subsequent visits (26–27 March, 17 April, 5 May, and 8 May).

The Indonesian authorities made little progress with negotiations as Kwalik refused to back down from his demand for immediate independence for western New Guinea.

However, the ICRC insisted that negotiations continue, and by early May had arranged the release of the hostages in exchange for free passage for the hostage-takers and medical and agricultural projects to be implemented in Irian Jaya.

At the last moment, as the ICRC were preparing to leave with the hostages, Kwalik retracted his offer and again demanded independence for western New Guinea.

The ICRC representatives returned the next day to find that the hostages had been moved to a different location and that Kwalik refused to change his stance.

[6] Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus) for the rescue operation were under the command of Prabowo Subianto, son-in-law of President Soeharto.

[6] The Indonesian Army admitted to using a white civilian helicopter (in Airfast Indonesia livery) to lead the assault, which had been used previously to ferry the ICRC representatives.