British authorities indicated that they would take a tough line with the hijackers of the Afghan aircraft who surrendered at Stansted airport early yesterday morning. The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, sent the "clearest and unequivocal signals" to hijackers that they could not use force or the threat of force to secure political asylum in Britain.
Twenty-one people on board the Ariana Boeing 727 aircraft have been arrested. Seventy four passengers, including 14 women and children, believed to be hostages, who were freed as the crisis came to an end after four days, have already started claims for asylum in Britain.
Later today a Kampuchean Airlines Tristar aircraft, chartered by the International Organisation for Immigration, will arrive at Stansted to bring back to Afghanistan those hostages who wish to return. Others may be flown to a third country, thought to be Pakistan.
In a statement to MPs in the Commons at the end of Britain's longest-running hijack crisis, Mr Straw explained that British authorities allowed the aircraft to land because "there were serious concerns about the safety of those on board, given the threats that had been made earlier to kill passengers". He said he would personally judge any claims for asylum made by the people on board the aircraft.
"While I must and will act in accordance with the law I am utterly determined that nobody should consider that there can be any benefit to be obtained by hijacking."
But as British police gave away few details of the negotiations with the hijackers, since they form part of the ongoing criminal investigation, Mr Straw insisted that at no time during the crisis at Stansted were any political demands made, although in the final stages discussions moved on to the current political situation in Afghanistan. The surrender of the hijackers was "unconditional", he said, and British authorities had given no under takings "of any kind concerning asylum" during the negotiations.
The first clear signs that the standoff was coming to an end came at 2 a.m. when two hijackers left the aircraft to engage in face-to-face talks with police negotiators. An hour later, 85 men, women and children began walking down the rear steps of the aircraft and were taken away to safety by police officers. Then, shortly before 6 a.m., another 66 people, including men with their arms raised in the air, left the aircraft and the crisis ended peacefully.
Reuters adds: In Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban authorities told Britain to try the hijackers and said they hoped the British government would return the commandeered Boeing 727.
Taliban leaders effectively washed their hands of the hijackers, who would almost certainly face severe punishment if they were tried in Afghanistan.