Jakarta – Indonesia denied Tuesday that its military had pressured the mother of a four-year-old Papuan asylum seeker into demanding that Australia return her daughter, as alleged in a media report there.

In an emotional appeal last week Siti Pandera Wanggai told Indonesian reporters that the father of her daughter Anike had taken her to Australia without her permission and that she wanted her returned to Papua.

But Australian newspaper The Age reported Tuesday that Wanggai, who has since fled to Papua New Guinea, only did so because of pressure from military intelligence and two members of her family.

Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Desra Percaya denied Wanggai's claims. "I don't believe that this is the case, because I had the opportunity to speak with Mrs Siti a couple of days ago," Percaya told AFP. "She asked Deplu (foreign affairs) especially for help for the return of her daughter," he said.

Anike is one of 42 asylum seekers given temporary visas in Australia after they fled Papua in a small outrigger boat in January, sparking a diplomatic row between the neighbours.

Indonesia had asked Australia to return Anike, arguing that under international conventions on the rights of the child, the "best interests is for the child to stay with her mother," Percaya said.

But Wanggai said in a written statement to The Age: "I was taken away by them (intelligence and her relatives) and told to agree to the entire contents of the statement that was made by the three of them."

The report said that Wanggai fled to Papua New Guinea last week because she feared for her safety, just as she was due to fly to Jakarta to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It added that Wanggai was happy her daughter was in Australia, even though she was not informed she would be taken there.

Wanggai's uncle also told AFP that he doubted she had sought the return of her daughter. "We understand that the father would bring her up, not mother," Agus Waromi said by telephone from Jayapura, adding the couple had separated around a year ago.

Waromi said it appeared that Wanggai had been sponsored by the military to travel to Jakarta to meet Yudhoyono and perhaps that had frightened her. "In my opinion, maybe she was afraid and ran. Maybe she got pressure," he said.

The asylum seekers in Australia accused Jakarta of genocide in the province, where a separatist movement has rumbled for decades, claims denied by the government.

Indonesia won sovereignty over Papua, formerly a Dutch colony, in 1969 after a referendum widely seen as a sham.