Hijackers held, hostages freed

Hyderabad - Pakistani security men posing as Indian officials captured three hijackers of an airliner at the southern airport…

Hyderabad - Pakistani security men posing as Indian officials captured three hijackers of an airliner at the southern airport of Hyderabad early today and freed all 29 hostages.

There was a brief shootout but no one was injured by gunfire, a senior police official said. He said the operation against the hijackers, earlier reported to have demanded to be flown to India, had been successful. No further details were immediately available as the officials announced the end of a drama that began some nine hours earlier when the gunmen took over the twin-engined Fokker Friendship plane from Gwadur airport in the south-western province of Baluchistan.

An official who did not want to be quoted said the hijackers were Baluchi dissidents who opposed reported Pakistani plans to carry out a nuclear test in a desert in the province.