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Hijackers may have reached Pak

The five hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane, who were set a 10-hour deadline by the Taliban to leave Afghanistan, are believed to have crossed into Pakistan from the border outpost of Chaman, a busy crossing on the international divide between the two Islamic countries.

Earlier, reports had indicated that the hijackers, and the three militants, swapped by India for the release of its citizens held hostage at Kandahar, had reached Quetta en route to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Chaman is the closest border crossing to Kandahar and logically the most likely point for crossing into Pakistan, news reports said.

Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, is a couple of hours drive from the border and the most popular route to the North West Frontier Province which borders Kashmir.

Border officials at Chaman, however, told reporters that they were ordered by the government on Friday night, when the hijack ended, not to allow the hijackers to enter Pakistan. The officials claimed nobody could have crossed over from Afghanistan at night as ''surveillance had been stepped up''.

Afghanistan borders six countries -- Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The crossing to Pakistan is about a five-hour drive from Kandahar and the Iranian border is about 12-14 hours away. But routes to other countries pass through areas which are either controlled by the anti-Taliban forces or are witnessing raging battles.

However, as the identity of the five hijackers is still shrouded in mystery, they could easily have melted into a crowd, especially at a busy place like the Chaman border. Moreover, the hijackers could have literally driven into Pakistan, bypassing the border outpost as the border between the two countries is long and porous and can be breached without much effort.

The case of Maulana Masood Azhar is different as he is not wanted in any case in Pakistan and would be able to return to his home in Bahawalpur without much difficulty. Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, head of the now defunct Al Umar Mujahideen, and Ahmad Omar Sheikh, a British national believed to be an expert in explosives, have no homes in Pakistan and would have to depend on Azhar and Kashmiri separatist groups for support, reports said.

The three militants are not likely to face much problem in reaching POK, if they want to, but allowing the hijackers safe passage through Pakistan would invite stinging criticism from across the civilised world.

Taliban authorities announced at the weekend that the five hijackers and the three militants had left Afghanistan on the expiry of the 10-hour deadline.

Taliban spokesman Mulla Abdul Hye Mutmain had said, "As far as we know, all the eight men are no longer in Afghanistan. We had ordered them to leave Afghanistan within ten hours or else we would throw them out."

Mutmain declined to speculate where the hijackers had gone, saying it was none of their business as their only objective was that they should not remain on Afghan soil.

"We had made this promise during the negotiations between the hijackers and the Indian government officials and also to Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and we are abiding by it. We had declared several days ago not to give political asylum to the hijackers."

The hijackers sped out of the airport in several four-wheel-drive vehicles, taking the freed militants and a Taliban soldier with them.

However, Pakistan stuck to its stand that the hijackers had not entered its territory. "Pakistan is on high alert, and in case they enter Pakistan territory, they will be arrested and tried as per established international rules and conventions, to which Pakistan is a signatory," Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told the media.

"Pakistan condemns all acts of terrorism and abides by the international conventions, rules and regulations," he said adding that he had issued clear and specific instructions to the officials concerned and agencies of the two border provinces of NWFP and Baluchistan in this regard.

"Under no circumstances, would these persons be allowed to enter Pakistan," he said. "In case they sneak into NWFP or Baluchistan, they will be detained and tried according to law and rules," he added.

UNI

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