New Caledonia Police Hunt Separatists Holding 27 Hostages

Police in New Caledonia began a massive search Friday for at least 20 Melanesian separatists who are believed to be holding as many as 27 French police officers hostage following a bloody gun and machete attack on a local police station that left three officers dead and at least 20 others wounded, authorities said.

The attack came two days before regional elections involving a new autonomy plan for the French-ruled territory, coinciding with the French presidential election.

Early Friday morning, the band of separatists stormed a police station on the small island of Ouvea, about 90 miles northeast of Noumea, the capital of this French Pacific territory, according to police. They demanded that police reinforcements be withdrawn and that Paris send an emissary to discuss independence.

Officials said Friday night that negotiations had not begun and that police had not been in contact with the attackers, who fled into the bush with their captives.

Defense officials said that 200 men were combing thick underbrush in search of the hide-out.

Native Melanesians, known as Kanaks, make up 43% of the territory’s 145,000 people. The rest are European settlers, Polynesians and Asians.

Many Melanesians seek independence, while most European settlers want to remain French.

In Paris, Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, interviewed on French radio, condemned the attack as “barbaric savagery.” He called an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the killings.