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Pakistan refuses to return plane hijackers: India
India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of refusing to hand over hijackers involved in the 1999 seizure of a domestic passenger airline that was commandeered and flown to Afghanistan.Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that despite several requests by India, Islamabad had failed to hand over the hijackers, which he said New Delhi believes are on Pakistani soil. Pakistan has consistently denied that it is harbouring the hijackers. The matter is still being pursued with the Pakistan government, including through the joint anti-terrorism mechanism and the home secretary-level talks on terrorism under the composite (peace) dialogue, he told parliament. The New Delhi-bound aircraft with 157 people on board was hijacked and flown to the Afghan city of Kandahar by five men after it took off from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999. The crisis ended after Indias then Hindu nationalist government swapped the captives for three Islamic militants imprisoned in New Delhi. The freed rebels and the five hijackers are on a list of 20 most-wanted men India claims have been granted sanctuary by Pakistan. A peace dialogue launched in 2004 between the two South Asian adversaries has made little headway on Indias demands that Pakistan hand over the men. Posted by: Fred 2008-03-20 |
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