It was three o'clock before dawn and the rain was pouring down on Timika. I woke up from a deep sleep. Three heavily built men crashed through the door of room 12, Hotel Lawamena, where I was staying. Before I could switch on the lamp, they had dragged me out of the room. "Sir, we have to leave now!" one of them said.

Halfway between sleep and consciousness, I overcame my fear. The man with sideburns introduced himself as Geradus Murib. I was