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.