South Mollucan terrorists held train passengers hostage. Demanding the Dutch help them gain independence from Jakarta. The Moluccan headache is a heritage of the old days of empire.

Early last Tuesday morning, six men carrying machine guns, a pistol and a hunting rifle boarded a four-car electric “milk train” at the Dutch town of Assen. Shortly after it left Beilen, ten miles away, the terrorists stopped the train and seized the passengers as hostages. As police and Dutch…