AFGHANISTAN: INDIAN AIRLINES HIGHJAKING WRAP (6) скачать в хорошем качестве

AFGHANISTAN: INDIAN AIRLINES HIGHJAKING WRAP (6)

(31 Dec 1999) Natural Sound Passengers and crew who were held hostage for eight days on an Indian Airlines plane are back home now. The first of two airplanes carrying the 155 freed captives from Afghanistan arrived in New Delhi late on Friday - to a warm and emotional welcome from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and relatives. The eight-day ordeal had ended earlier in the day after India had flown three Islamic militants imprisoned on terror charges to the Kandahar airport. Friday's exchange ended an eight-day crisis which took the hostages to India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. The hijackers had agreed to release the hostages in return for three militants freed in India earlier in the day. An Indian plane carrying the militants landed at Kandahar on Friday afternoon, coming to a stop about a half-mile (almost a kilometre) away from the hijacked Indian Airlines plane. The hijackers had demanded the release of 36 militants jailed in India for their fight against Indian rule of the disputed territory of Kashmir. However, only three militants were freed from jail, including Pakistani religious leader Masood Azhar - the ideologue of the Harkat ul-Ansar, a group that is included on a U-S list of terrorist organisations. The group is believed to have training camps in Afghanistan. The other prisoners were Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, chief commander of the rebel group Ul-Umar Mujahideen, and Ahmad Omar Sayed Sheikh, who was held in a New Delhi prison. Not long after their arrival at Kandahar airport, five hijackers left the Indian Airlines plane. The five were seen carrying pistols and did not give up their weapons as they walked off the plane. The hijackers then drove away in four-wheel drive vehicles to an unknown destination, reportedly taking with them the three militants. Not long after, the first hostages started getting off the plane. They were taken to the two planes waiting to take them back to New Delhi. As the hostages were leaving, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh - who had travelled with the militants to Kandahar - and the Taliban said the hijackers had been given 10 hours to leave Afghanistan. Singh also defended the release of the militants, insisting the Indian government had acted to ensure the safety of the passengers. SOUNDBITE: (English) \"Innocent men, women and children have been criminally kept confined during the festive season, impeded from light and joy for more than a week. We stated at the very beginning that our primary concern was the earliest termination of the hijacking and the safe return of all passengers and crew.\" SUPER CAPTION: Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh Late on Friday - when all hostages had left the Indian Airlines plane - APTN was allowed on board to film the interior of the jet that was at the centre of the longest hijack drama in more than a decade. The hijacked plane had been on the tarmac at Kandahar since December 25, a day after the drama began on a flight from Kathmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India. Conditions on the plane steadily worsened as the crisis dragged on. With temperatures dipping below freezing, the engines on the hijacked plane shut down early on Friday, cutting heat and light and making conditions even more uncomfortable. The jet had suffered two engine failures during its time in Afghanistan and passengers had to endure long periods without food, water, lights and heat. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...