December 30, 1999

Investigations indicate a planned hijacking
By Manoj Joshi and Man Mohan
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: The call came at the Air Traffic Control of Amritsar's Raja Sansi airport at 7.04 pm on December 24, within minutes of the landing of the hijacked Airbus Flight 814. It was a G. Lal, joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, who

Hope for hijack talks
BBC
A senior Taleban official has said he is "optimistic" about negotiations with hijackers holding 160 hostages aboard an Indian Airlines jet in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Russia calls on Pak, Iran, Taliban to help in hijack crisis
MOSCOW (NNI): Russia has asked Pakistan, Iran and the Taliban to help resolve the hijack crisis while once again condemning the incident as a source of "shock and indignation".

UN asks member states not to allow Taliban-owned planes
Frontier Post
From SIKANDER HAYAT
ISLAMABAD - The UN Security Council has firmed up a list of 59 civil and military aircraft "owned, leased or operated" by the Taliban government and the UN member-states have been asked to deny them permission to land or take-off. Forty two

Iran to make more efforts for Afghan peace, FM says
TEHRAN (NNI): Iran plans to dedicate more efforts to the strained peace process in Afghanistan following the recent contacts with Tehran by rival Afghan groups, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Tuesday.

Khalili doubts Indian recognition of Taliban
NEW DELHI (NNI): The cooperation being extended by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban to the Indian government in ending the hijack of an Indian Airlines plane is unlikely to lead to New Delhi's recognition of its regime, said Masood Khalili, a

Saudis annoyed at safe passage to militants
Frontier Post
By IMTIAZ HUSSAIN
PESHAWAR - Scores of Arab militants, wanted by their respective governments on a whole slew of charges, have flown out of Pakistan via Peshawar airport, highly-placed sources told The Frontier Post here on Wednesday. The authorities

OSCE chief fears C.Asia next Balkans
By Alister Doyle
OSLO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - After a year scarred by warring in Chechnya and Kosovo, the head of Europe's foremost security group fears that Central Asia could spawn worse conflicts than the Balkans.

Sarre Pul
Forces loyal to the United Front launched an offensive on the Talebanstronghold of Alburz Mountain in Sarre Pul province late yesterday afternoon.

Key hurdle to ending Indian hijack: diplomatic sources
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 30 (AFP) - The key obstacle to winning the freedom of 160 hostages held aboard an Indian Airlines jet in Afghanistan is to find a country ready to accept the hijackers, diplomatic sources Thursday.

Indian hostage freed by plane hijackers leaves Islamabad
ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (AFP) - An Indian hostage freed several days ago by hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane in southern Afghanistan left here Thursday after treatment in a hospital, the state-run television reported.

Pakistan expects increasd flow of narcotics from Afghanistan
KARACHI, Dec 30 (AFP) - Pakistan has almost wiped out poppy cultivation as it enters the new millennium, but faces a tough task to control drug smuggling from Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

Handling of hijack crisis boosts Taliban's image
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 30 (AFP) - Long regarded as a pariah regime by the west, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia are winning praise for their handling of the Indian Airlines hijacking ordeal, diplomats say.

Taliban Say Hijack Talks Look 'Promising'
01:21 p.m Dec 30, 1999 Eastern
By Sayed Salahuddin
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Negotiations to free more than 150 people held captive for a week on an Indian Airlines jet went well Thursday but no breakthrough was made, the foreign minister of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said.

Taliban - friend or foe?
Times of India
By Seema Guha
NEW DELHI: Jaswant Singh has publicly praised Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime for its help in India's hour of need. Yet as the agonising hijacking crisis stretched to the sixth day, questions are being asked about the Taliban's real motives.

President of the United States of America,
As the joyous grand occasion of the advent of Two Thousand, the birth Year of the Millennium, draws closer, it gives me great pleasure to convey sincere felicitations and best wishes on behalf of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan