East Timor willing to accept stranded Afghan refugees

East Timor is willing to temporarily accept about 460 immigrants stranded on a cargo ship off Australia.

UN officials are hopeful it will mean an end to the diplomatic stalemate involving Indonesia, Australia and Norway.

East Timor's de facto foreign minister says they would be happy to house the refugees as long as they did not stay too long and the UN agreed to pay all costs.

Jose Ramos-Horta said: "We would look upon it favourably."

East Timor has 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 Christmas Island.

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 says the Government approached the UN's Transitional Administration in East Timor to ask it to take the refugees.

He says the Government approached a number of foreign Governments and international organisations in exploring options for a resolution of the issue.