Slain UN worker describes mob attack in e-mail<\/p>\n
UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): Six hours before he and two
\ncolleagues were murdered in West Timor, a Puerto Rican relief
\nworker e-mailed a friend describing the mob that was en route to
\ndestroy the compound.<\/p>\n
\"We sit here like bait, unarmed,\" he wrote.<\/p>\n
The message was sent by Carlos Caceres, one of three employees
\nof the UN refugee agency who were killed and burned in
\nWednesday's militia onslaught in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
\"These guys act without thinking and can kill a human being as
\neasily (and painlessly) as I kill mosquitoes in my room,\" wrote
\nCaceres.<\/p>\n
UN officials said Caceres, 33, sent the message to a friend at
\na security office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in
\nSkopje, Macedonia, which was assigned to help coordinate safety
\nmeasures for the faraway UNHCR workers in West Timor.<\/p>\n
The other two slain UN workers were Pero Simudra of Croatia
\nand Sampson Aleghn from Ethiopia.<\/p>\n
A UN Security Council statement said the UNHCR had received
\nadvance warning of possible trouble and was assured by the
\nIndonesian security forces that agency staff would be protected.<\/p>\n
\"I was in the office when the news came out that a wave of
\nviolence would soon pound Atambua,\" wrote Caceres. \"We sent most
\nof the staff home. I just heard someone on the radio saying that
\nthey are praying for us...\"<\/p>\n
\"You should see this office,\" Caceres continued. \"Plywood on
\nthe windows, staff peering out through the openings in the
\ncurtains hastily installed a few minutes ago. We are waiting for
\nthe enemy.\"<\/p>\n
Caceres added that he was due to start a three-week trip on
\nThursday - \"I just hope I will be able to leave tomorrow.\"<\/p>\n
Despite his fears, Caceres told his friend he would keep
\nworking.<\/p>\n
\"As we wait for the militia to do their business, I will draft
\nthe agenda for tomorrow's meeting,\" he wrote.<\/p>\n
A UN statement said \"most UNHCR staff fled over a rear wall.
\nHowever, three of them were apparently unable to do so.\"<\/p>\n
Robin Groves, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said Caceres' e-
\nmail was read aloud to the UN Security Council by Sadako Ogata,
\nthe UNHCR's head.<\/p>\n
\"They were all profoundly moved,\" Groves said. \"You could see
\nthe reaction was very intense.\"<\/p>\n
One of the survivors of the attack on the UNHCR office in
\nAtambua said he owed his life to a courageous husband and wife
\nwho hid him and five of his terrified colleagues in their home as
\nmilitia thugs searched the neighborhood for them.<\/p>\n
Alias Bin Ahmal, a Malaysian who headed the UNHCR office, was
\nkept safe by the woman in a darkened room for more than three and
\na half hours before being led to safety by her husband.<\/p>\n
\"She was telling militias who banged on her door that we had
\ntried to come in, but went further down the road. If it was not
\nfor the woman's determination and ingenuity we would have been
\nsitting ducks,\" Ahmal said as quoted by AP.<\/p>\n
He refused to identify the couple for fear that the thugs
\nmight harm them.<\/p>\n
He recalled that they had made a narrow escape from the
\noffice. \"It happened in a split second. A few who made it had a
\nvery narrow escape. There was one who was stabbed and beaten. All
\nhell broke lose\".<\/p>\n
Remaining UN workers have been evacuated out of Atambua
\nWednesday night and many are undergoing trauma counseling in
\nDili, East Timor.<\/p>",
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