Thursday, January 6 6:20 PM SGT

Militants Freed By India Cross Into Pakistan -Azhar

KARACHI (AP)--All three Kashmiri militants freed by India to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines passenger plane crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, one of the released prisoners said Thursday.

The five hijackers, who seized Indian Airlines Flight 814 with 178 passengers and 11 crew on board, were last seen on the road from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar heading toward Pakistan, said Maulana Masood Azhar.

At a news conference in the southern port city of Karachi, Azhar provided the first eyewitness account of what happened after the window-blackened vehicle carrying the five hijackers, the three freed militants, and a hostage from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia roared out of Kandahar airport Dec. 31.

Their safe passage was part of the deal to end the hijacking.

"The hijackers said 'you don't know us. We have never met. We are from India and we respect you and admire you but we cannot take off our masks,"' Azhar, a Pakistani cleric recalled.

Although the exact whereabouts of the other two freed militants - Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, an Indian Kashmiri, and Ahmed Umar Saeed Sheikh, a Pakistani-born British citizen - wasn't known, Azhar said all three men crossed together into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

The hijackers parted company with the freed militants in Afghanistan, Azhar said. The hijackers remained with Azhar and his companions for 25 minutes in a vehicle that was heading in the direction of Pakistan. Then they stopped the vehicle, got out and got into another vehicle, said Azhar.

It was also then that they freed their Taliban hostage, whom they had taken to guarantee their safe passage out of the airport.

Pakistan Police Didn't Stop Vehicle

Pakistan said its border security had been put on alert, but Azhar said there was no attempt by border police to stop his vehicle.

"I am a Pakistani citizen who has done nothing wrong. There is no reason to stop me," said Azhar. He parted company with the two other freed militants after crossing into Pakistan.

He said he didn't know where either was headed.

Azhar said he was arrested by India in 1994 after crossing into Indian-ruled Kashmir, and was ordered released by an Indian antiterrorist court a year later, but India ignored the order.

Since the hijacking, India and Pakistan have been trading allegations, each country accusing the other of involvement in the drama.