Football players from Eritrea seek political asylum in Angola

At least six Eritrean football players asked Angola for political asylum after playing an African Cup of Nations qualifier in Luanda, an Angolan radio station reported Tuesday.

The names of those seeking asylum were not released, Radio Ecclesia said.

Angola beat Eritrea 6-1 in the game Sunday, the AP reports.

The Eritrean government launched a crackdown on dissidents in 2001, arresting prominent dissidents and independent journalists, holding some for years without charge.

The U.N. refugee agency reported last week that the number of Eritreans seeking asylum in industrialized countries jumped 59 percent last year over the year before, an increase second only to Lebanon, were asylum applications were up 66 percent.