Bomb scare diverts Merpati flight in E. Timor

DILI (JP): A Merpati Nusantara Airlines flight carrying three prominent East Timor figures was diverted from Komoro Airport following a bomb scare, officials said.

East Timor Governor Jose Osorio Abilio Soares, Police chief Col. Timbul Silaen and Baucau Bishop Basilio Do Nascimento were among the diverted Boeing 737's 100 passengers. The airplane was rerouted to El Tari Airport in neighboring Kupang on the western tip of the island, said Edo Riadi, an official at Merpati.

The plane took off from Denpasar, Bali, and was scheduled to land at 11:30 a.m. in Dili.

An unidentified caller said he had planted a bomb in the airport and would set it off if the plane landed there, Edo said.

The call was received by a Merpati office manager at Dili's Komoro airport at 10:45 a.m. local time. The airport tower reported the threat to the airplane 45 minutes later, Col. Timbul Silaen told The Jakarta Post several hours after the incident.

A police bomb squad was deployed to sweep the airport, declaring the airport safe after finding nothing suspicious.

The airplane then flew from Kupang to Dili, landing at 4:00 p.m., according to Arsan Sirait, the chief of Komoro Airport.

Meanwhile, Antara reported the bomb scare caused panic among passengers at the airport. One passenger, priest Eduard Ratu Dopo, said rumors about the bomb circulated among passengers at around 11:00 a.m.

Dopo said that he heard the bomb would be set off when the passenger plane carrying Soares, the bishop and Silaen landed.

Tensions between pro-integration and pro-independence groups in East Timor have risen since the government announced on Jan. 27 that it would give the territory independence if it rejected Jakarta's offer of wide-ranging autonomy.

A number of people have died in clashes between the two groups. (33/01)