Taliban not bound to disclose hijackers destination: envoy

ISLAMABAD (NNI): A senior Taliban diplomat Monday said Taliban are not bound to disclose the whereabouts of the hijackers of the Indian airliner under an agreement reached among Taliban, Indian negotiators and hijackers.

"Taliban will not say anything about the destination of the hijackers as was agreed in Kandahar, Qazi Habibullah Fauzi, First Secretary in Afghan Embassy told reporters in Rawalpindi.

He said Taliban are committed under the accord for the release of the passengers of the Indian plane that whereabouts of the hijackers would not be disclosed. He said Taliban government had given a 10-hour deadline to the hijackers to leave Afghanistan as "we promised".

Fauzi said several countries whose nationals were among the hostages praised Taliban conduct during the hijacking drama. He said Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has also sent a message of thanks to Taliban.

He said the United Nations and India had not accepted Taliban role for mediation to end the hijacking drama, however, he said that the United Nations positively responded to Taliban request for humanitarian assistance. He said the UN has also lauded the Taliban role for the peaceful settlement of the crisis. He said India delayed sending negotiators to Kandahar, which prolonged the hijacking.

When asked about Pakistan claim that Indian intelligence RAW was behind the hijacking, the Taliban diplomat said, "we dont know about this." He said Taliban did not identified the hijackers.