removing (invalid) NFS symbolic link - slooow

I've noticed following strange behavior (Linux RH7.2, 2.4.20-20.7smp in
a small LAN of similar machines sharing their disks via NFS):

Sometimes, due to changes in LAN configuration (removing, renaming
machines etc.), I end up with symbolic links that point to a nonexisting
NFS directory which, however, is still under control of the automounter
(automount or amd, no differences here), like e.g.:

.... file1234 -> /home/data/dorado/user/file1234

which is translated by automounter config to dorado:/export/data/user/...
but 'dorado' machine does not exist any more.

Well, I understand that 'ls -lL file1234' will hang for a dozen seconds
or so until the mount request timeouts. So far, so good.

But I do not understand why a simple remove attempt: 'rm file1234'
also succeeds only after a quite long while. It does not remove
the file pointed to by the link, just the link itself which is
local. On the other hand, 'rm -f file1234' executes instantly.

Any idea why it is so?

regards, Michal.

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Michal Szymanski ((E-Mail Removed))
Warsaw University Observatory, Warszawa, POLAND