Slain UN worker describes mob attack in e-mail

Slain UN worker describes mob attack in e-mail

UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): Six hours before he and two
colleagues were murdered in West Timor, a Puerto Rican relief
worker e-mailed a friend describing the mob that was en route to
destroy the compound.

"We sit here like bait, unarmed," he wrote.

The message was sent by Carlos Caceres, one of three employees
of the UN refugee agency who were killed and burned in
Wednesday's militia onslaught in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara.

"These guys act without thinking and can kill a human being as
easily (and painlessly) as I kill mosquitoes in my room," wrote
Caceres.

UN officials said Caceres, 33, sent the message to a friend at
a security office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in
Skopje, Macedonia, which was assigned to help coordinate safety
measures for the faraway UNHCR workers in West Timor.

The other two slain UN workers were Pero Simudra of Croatia
and Sampson Aleghn from Ethiopia.

A UN Security Council statement said the UNHCR had received
advance warning of possible trouble and was assured by the
Indonesian security forces that agency staff would be protected.

"I was in the office when the news came out that a wave of
violence would soon pound Atambua," wrote Caceres. "We sent most
of the staff home. I just heard someone on the radio saying that
they are praying for us..."

"You should see this office," Caceres continued. "Plywood on
the windows, staff peering out through the openings in the
curtains hastily installed a few minutes ago. We are waiting for
the enemy."

Caceres added that he was due to start a three-week trip on
Thursday - "I just hope I will be able to leave tomorrow."

Despite his fears, Caceres told his friend he would keep
working.

"As we wait for the militia to do their business, I will draft
the agenda for tomorrow's meeting," he wrote.

A UN statement said "most UNHCR staff fled over a rear wall.
However, three of them were apparently unable to do so."

Robin Groves, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said Caceres' e-
mail was read aloud to the UN Security Council by Sadako Ogata,
the UNHCR's head.

"They were all profoundly moved," Groves said. "You could see
the reaction was very intense."

One of the survivors of the attack on the UNHCR office in
Atambua said he owed his life to a courageous husband and wife
who hid him and five of his terrified colleagues in their home as
militia thugs searched the neighborhood for them.

Alias Bin Ahmal, a Malaysian who headed the UNHCR office, was
kept safe by the woman in a darkened room for more than three and
a half hours before being led to safety by her husband.

"She was telling militias who banged on her door that we had
tried to come in, but went further down the road. If it was not
for the woman's determination and ingenuity we would have been
sitting ducks," Ahmal said as quoted by AP.

He refused to identify the couple for fear that the thugs
might harm them.

He recalled that they had made a narrow escape from the
office. "It happened in a split second. A few who made it had a
very narrow escape. There was one who was stabbed and beaten. All
hell broke lose".

Remaining UN workers have been evacuated out of Atambua
Wednesday night and many are undergoing trauma counseling in
Dili, East Timor.