Bernard Lagan, Darwin – Two suspected East Timorese militia members and a suspected Indonesian soldier are being held by Australian authorities after infiltrating the UN compound in Dili and being flown by the RAAF with 1400 refugees to Darwin.

The men were plucked from the East Timorese reception centre on the outskirts of Darwin early yesterday after some refugees told staff the men would be killed in Darwin.

They were taken away by Northern Territory police to an undisclosed location and were last night still being interviewed by police and Australian immigration officials. A spokeswoman for the Northern Territory Police said two of the men had been identified by refugees in Darwin as members of the notorious Aitarak militia, held responsible in East Timor for scores of killings and attacks upon pro-Independence East Timorese.

The UNAMET spokesman, Mr David Wimhurst, said in Darwin yesterday that the three men were believed to have infiltrated the UN compound in Dili where about 1400 refugees were sheltering from militias and the Indonesian army.

When the refugees were transported to Darwin in Tuesday's dawn RAAF airlift, the suspected militias and the soldier were included. Their presence was drawn to the attention of East Timorese social workers working with the refugees after they arrived in Darwin.

"They have been isolated and they are being held separately by the authorities in a safe location," Mr Wimhurst said. "The allegations that two are militia are being investigated," he said. "This is now entirely in the hands of Australian authorities. If they are indeed members of the militia, it's very possible they infiltrated the UN compound in Dili and were carried out with the rest of the refugees."

Mr Wimhurst said it would have been too difficult to conduct screening checks on the refugees before the airlift to Darwin.

UN officials said later yesterday that the two men identified as militia were behaving aggressively towards Australian authorities who were attempting to establish their identities.

The third man, identified as an Indonesian army soldier, was with a family group of 10 who had been in the compound. Members of the alleged soldier's family have also been removed from the main body of refugees because of fears for their safety.

Refugees in the Darwin centre said last night that one of those suspected as a militia member was a high-ranked deputy commander in the Aitarak militia, known in Dili as "Elvis".

A refugee spokesman, Mr Sebastico Guterres, said last night he hoped refugees in Darwin would act with restraint against the three men if they were freed.