Darwin – An American UN worker recovering in an Australian hospital after being wounded in East Timor said Wednesday that he was shot by an Indonesian soldier.

Earl Candler was airlifted to the northern Australian city of Darwin after being shot twice in the abdomen while driving in an unmarked UN vehicle through the town of Liquica four days ago.

He said his attacker was a member of the Indonesian military sent to East Timor to maintain law and order after pro-Indonesia militias unleashed a campaign of terror in the aftermath of last week's vote for independence.

"I see him point his weapon, and me and my driver got down as low as we could go," Candler told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. "The impression I got was that there was an Australian subject who looked a lot like me, and he was their target and they got me by mistake." Australians might be targeted by the militias because of their perceived support for Timorese independence.

Candler said he was hit by several bullets but only two pierced his body armor. "I got hit twice. One of the rounds passed right through me, and the other one was lodged, and the doc took it out," Candler said in another television interview.

The bullet removed by doctors was displayed in a jar next to Candler's bed. Nobody was available at the United Nations' Darwin base to provide Candler's hometown.