“If it does not happen within two months then they say they will shoot me,” Mr Mehrtens said in the video shared by Papuan rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom and verified by Deka Anwar, an analyst at the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

Rebels in Indonesia's Papua region threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot they took hostage in February if countries do not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months, a new video released by the group on Friday showed.

Pilot Phillip Mehrtens was taken hostage in February after trying to help evacuate construction workers who had been threatened in the remote and mountainous area.

Rebels in Indonesia's Papua region have threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot who they took hostage in February, if their

Phillip Mehrtens, who has been held hostage since February, makes the claim in a new video released by the separatist group