Refugees stranded off Australia may be moved to East Timor

The United Nations says its facilities in East Timor could easily cope with the 460 immigrants stranded on a cargo ship off Australia.

This raises hopes for an end to the diplomatic stalemate involving Indonesia, Australia and Norway.

The facilities have the capability of dealing with 15,000 refugees.

Bernard Kerblat, head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in East Timor said: "The sooner this crisis is resolved through the most intelligent solution, the better for the individuals involved."

About 460 asylum seekers, most of them from Afghanistan, have been stranded for five days on the Tampa, a Norwegian cargo ship, off Australia's remote Christmas Island, which is located far closer to Indonesia than it is to mainland Australia.

The Norwegian freighter saved the refugees from a sinking Indonesian-registered boat that had been secretly taking them to Australia without visas.

Australia's Government has refused to allow them to land on Christmas Island and sent troops to board the ship after it approached the port.

A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government had approached the UN's Transitional Administration in East Timor to ask it to take the refugees. He said the Government had approached a number of foreign Governments and international organisations in exploring options for a resolution of the issue.

"He spoke to (East Timor's UN governor) Sergio de Mello from Canberra and canvassed with him whether there might be a possibility of the vessel disembarking its passengers in East Timor for their claims to be processed," said the spokesman, Matt Francis.

East Timor has been governed by the world body since 1999, when its people opted for independence in a UN-supervised referendum. At the time, 250,000 people were left homeless after rampaging Indonesian troops and their allies burned or destroyed most of the province.