Norway reported Australia to the United Nations today for sending special forces onto a Norwegian freighter packed with asylum seekers to prevent the vessel from docking at an Australian port.
Norway's government also suggested that many nations could take in the 434 mostly Afghan asylum seekers aboard the Tampa, many of them sick or suffering from exhaustion, to help end a tussle between Australia, Indonesia and Norway.
Australian special forces boarded the freighter today after it entered Australian waters. The captain breached the 12-mile limit off remote Christmas Island, arguing that many people were in urgent need of medical help.
"We have reported the situation to the International Maritime Organisation," Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr Thorbjoern Jagland told NRK public radio, referring to the United Nations maritime agency. He said there were 50 soldiers aboard.
Mr Jagland said that Oslo also reported the refusal of Australia to let the ship land to the UN refugee agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The vessel was within Australia's territorial waters.
"This is the wrong reaction to a humanitarian problem," Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Jens Stoltenberg said of the Australian refusal to let the ship dock four days after the Tampa picked up the refugees from a sinking ferry.
He spoke to Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard overnight without reaching any agreement. Indonesia, the refugees' last port, and Norway have also said they have no plans to let the refugees in.