Austrian embassy urged to hand over asylum seekers

JAKARTA (JP): Pressure grew on the Austrian Embassy yesterday to hand over two East Timorese currently seeking refuge at the embassy and suspected of being involved in terrorist activities by police.

As legislator Zamharir AR called on Austria to stop protecting the two individuals whom he called "criminals", a small protest was separately held in front of the embassy on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.

Zamharir said the Austrian embassy should not protect alleged terrorists.

"These two East Timorese are suspected to be criminals by the authorities," Zamharir was quoted by Antara as saying.

He added that the embassy should understand that and hand them over to the Indonesian government.

Six East Timorese entered the Austrian Embassy under the pretext of applying for visas on Sept. 19. Later they said they were seeking political asylum to Portugal claiming they "felt in danger".

Two of them, Avelino Maria Coelho da Silva and Nuno Vicente Pereira Saldanha, are strongly suspected by the military of being involved in terrorist activities involving other East Timorese.

The Indonesian government has appealed to the Austrian Embassy to hand over the two, but the request has not been met.

East Timor observer Domingos M. Policarpo dos Reis also said the embassy should give up Avelino and Nuno if there was any indication of involvement in terrorist activities.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry's director for foreign information Ghaffar Fadyl said the government maintained its stance of not allowing the two East Timorese to leave for Portugal.

"Just like what has been explained by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas that the two would not be allowed to leave the country," he said.

But, he added, the four other East Timorese would be allowed to leave since they were not believed to have committed any crimes.

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as Indonesia's 27th province in 1976. (10)