Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a 38-year-old pilot from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air when he was abducted by armed rebels from a remote airport on February 7, 2023. 

"Today I finally got out. I am so happy to be back home with my family soon," Mehrtens told reporters at a news conference in Timika, a mining town.

 "Thank you to everyone who helped me get out safely and healthy." 

Television news earlier showed an emaciated, long-haired Mehrtens, wearing a dark green shirt and black shorts, sitting in a room surrounded by police officers and local officials.

He sobbed while talking to his family via video and was later flown to Jakarta to be reunited with his family on Saturday night. 

Rebels have used violence to try to achieve independence as the security situation deteriorates in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia. 

The Free Papua Movement initially said the rebels would not release Mehrtens unless Indonesia's government allowed Papua to become a sovereign country.

Then, on Tuesday, leaders of the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement known as TPNPB, issued a proposal for freeing Mehrtens that outlined terms including news media involvement in his release.

Mehrtens' family said in a statement on Sunday that they were "extremely grateful and relieved that Phillip has been released and will soon be reunited with us".

They said they had received messages from the pilot during his captivity.

"Those messages filled our souls and gave us hope and that we would eventually see Phil again."