Govt to examine all options: Jaswant
Tribune News Service and agencies

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — The government will examine “all options” for the earliest termination of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines aircraft and safe return of the hostages, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said today.

“We are examining every option that advances the aim of the earliest termination of the hijacking,” he told reporters here, but declined to spell out the measures being contemplated “as the situation is extremely delicate”.

He evaded a direct response to a pointed query whether India had requested any country to send commandos for the release of the hostages but maintained that New Delhi was in constant touch with the Taliban authorities in Kandahar and Pakistan besides over 10 countries, including the USA.

Asked whether India suspected Pakistan’s involvement in the hijacking, he said first reports from Kathmandu indicated the possibility of the five hijackers arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport by a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight and getting into the departure lounge for the IC 814 flight where somebody had booked five seats on one name.

The Nepal Government, he said, had set in motion an investigation into the matter and the report was expected shortly.

Specifically asked whether the government was prepared to release Maulana Masood Azhar as demanded by the hijackers, he said: “In the situation I am in, it is not possible to simply say a yes or a no.”

He said Azhar, a Pakistan national, had been in an Indian jail since January 1994, on charges of terrorism and that Islamabad had made “repeated attempts” to secure his release.

Azhar, he said, was a member of the terrorist Harkat-ul-Mujahideen which was involved in the kidnapping of five foreign tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in 1996.

He said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was monitoring all activities related to the hijacking on a daily basis.

To a question, he said while the government did not recognise the Taliban regime, the absence of diplomatic ties did not come in the way of New Delhi establishing direct contact with it. The Taliban had so far been cooperating with the Indian Government, he said.

India, he said, had taken the initiative to send Mr Eric de Mul, UN representative for Afghanistan currently in Islamabad, to Kandahar for a first hand account of the welfare of the passengers, crew and the pilot.

Mul, he said, had established contact with the pilot but not succeeded so far in talking to the hijackers.

He, however, clarified that the UN was not acting as an intermediary or a mediator on the issue.

Asked what role he saw for Pakistan in resolving the crisis, he said it was for the Government of Pakistan to decide the role for it had the “facts” which were known to them. He said there should be no “illusion” about the jailed terrorist being a religious leader.

Mr Jaswant Singh said there was no contradiction in the statement of the Prime Minister that India would not be cowed down by such acts of terrorism and the country would keep all options open to ensure safe release of the hostages.

Asked about the criticism on the plane being allowed to fly out of Amritsar, he said the “expertise and specialisation” of the hijackers was indicated by the fact that when the refuelling tanker approached the aircraft, the terrorists ordered the pilot to immediately take off for Lahore.

He said no other name except that of Azhar had been proposed for release from custody by the hijackers.

“We have taken note of the demands. But our position on terrorism is well-known as also our commitment to combat terrorism in all its form,” he told reporters here after a core group meeting where Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee reviewed the situation on the hijack crisis.

The External Affairs Minister appealed to the Afghan authorities to secure the release of Rachana, wife of killed hostage, Rupin Katyal, as the family was in great distress and would like her presence at the cremation of her husband.

Meanwhile, a meeting with Opposition parties convened today by the Prime Minister on the crisis has been postponed tomorrow morning.

Official sources said the meeting was postponed as leaders of some Opposition parties complained that the meeting was called at short notice while others were not in town.

In view of the meeting, Mr Vajpayee had postponed his visit to Tirupati today from where he was to proceed to Chennai for the BJP national executive meeting.

Efforts to secure release: PM
Tribune News Service and PTI

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today assured that all efforts were being made to secure a safe release of the passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines plane, now held at Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Addressing the diamond jubilee celebration of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here, the Prime Minister said he hoped that the hijacked aircraft and its passengers would soon return home safely.

However, the gravity of the situation could not be hidden when Mr Vajpayee sought to remind that though the country has been successfully tackling all challenges from time to time, in the given situation it was all the more important to be ever alert.

GHAZIABAD (UP): The Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has ruled out India recognising the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where the hijacked Indian Airlines plane had been taken by the hijackers.

“No, the question (recognising Taliban) does not arise,” Mr Vajpayee told reporters in reply to a question whether India would consider recognising the Taliban regime.

He was replying to questions after inaugurating the 12th National Sports Meet organised by the Vidya Bharati here.

Cabinet reviews situation
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — India will seek a report on the situation in Kandahar on the hijacked aircraft from its permanent representative to the United Nations.

Briefing correspondents after a meeting of the Union Cabinet here this evening, the first after the hijack of the Indian Airlines plane now stationed in the Afghanistan town since yesterday, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said the UN representative, Mr Eric de Mul, had returned to Islamabad from Kandahar.

The UN representative had gone to the town this morning to get first hand account on the situation.

Mr Jaswant Singh said the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had briefed his colleagues on the latest development on the hijacking front. To a question as the Indian response to reports of refuelling of the plane at Kandahar, he said he would examine the reports, adding that he would personally get in touch with the Indian permanent representative to the world body in New York.