January 1, 2000

Politician terms Loya Jirga only solution in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (NNI): A Pukhtoon nationalist politician and leader of the NWFP-based Awami National Party described convening of Loya Jirga as the only viable solution to the crisis in Afghanistan.

Three people shot dead at Tajik-Afghan border
DUSHANBE, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Three people were shot dead and four injured in two illegal New Year attempts to cross into ex-Soviet Tajikistan from Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Russian border guards patrolling the frontier said on Saturday.

Taliban role lauded
RAWALPINDI (NNI): In their reaction to the drop scene of the Indian plane hijack crisis, the former military leaders of Pakistan lauded the Taliban role in tacking the situation, "they have scored a moral victory by adopting a positive attitude."

Hijackers Vanish Into Afghan Desert
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000; 12:50 p.m. EST
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –– The five hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane vanished into the desert of southern Afghanistan and by this morning had crossed the border into a neighboring country, according to a Taliban official.

Indian hostages did not know they were in Afghanistan
NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (AFP) - Passengers at the centre of the Indian Airlines hijack drama spent nearly a week on a runway in southern Afghanistan, without having any idea of where they were, newspapers reported Saturday.

Hijacked Indian plane returns to New Delhi
NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (AFP) - A hijacked Indian Airlines plane returned to New Delhi on Saturday from southern Afghanistan, where its engines had been kept running almost non-stop after Muslim militants seized the flight on Christmas eve.

Taliban Say Hijackers Not in Afghanistan
04:25 a.m. Jan 01, 2000 Eastern
By Tahir Ikram
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Saturday the five hijackers of an Indian plane and three freed militants had left the country, but it did not know their whereabouts, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service reported.

Pakistan Vows to Try Hijackers If They Enter
01:24 p.m Jan 01, 2000 Eastern
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Saturday it would arrest and try the hijackers of an Indian airliner if they entered the country and dismissed New Delhi's allegation that the five were Pakistanis.

India hijack hostages grapple with the facts
NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (AFP) - India's freed hijack hostages are grappling to shake off the trauma and confusion of their eight-day ordeal, and take in what actually happened around them as they sat on a lonely runway in Afghanistan.

Hostages Remember 8 Days of Terror
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000; 2:39 p.m. EST
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –– For eight days, at the whim and command of armed hijackers, the 155 hostages on board Indian Airlines Flight 814 lived each hour in fear for their lives.

Child Hostage Recalls Hijackers
The Associated Press
Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000; 1:27 p.m. EST
NEW DELHI, India –– Holding the wrapper of a chocolate given to him by a hijacker, 12-year-old ex-hostage Himanshu Sharma recalled Saturday how one of his captors handed him a gun during the ordeal.

India, Pakistan Trade Accusations
By Greg Myre
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000; 3:03 p.m. EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –– Pakistani officials pledged Saturday to arrest the five Indian Airlines hijackers if they enter the country, but the officials denied India's claim that the hijackers are already there.

Looking back and forth
DAWN (Editorial)
NOT counting Muhammad bin Qasim's incursion into Sindh, it has been a thousand years since Muslim warrior-kings emerging from Afghanistan swept down on the subcontinent and established their first footholds in northern India. On the foundations

Hijacking, OIC and Security Council
By Kuldip Nayar
DAWN (Opinion)
MUSLIM nations all over the world have constituted a body, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), where they discuss problems facing Muslims living in other countries and pass lengthy resolutions. India, with 120 million Muslims, is OIC's