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73 Afghan hostages flying home

LONDON: Seventy-three Afghans, more than half of the hostages from last week's plane hijack, were flying home on Monday on a chartered aircraft.

The chartered aircraft took off from a British air force base west of London shortly after midnight on Sunday after the former hostages, some smiling and waving, were taken by coach under police escort from a nearby temporary immigration centre.

Only hours earlier, British officials said just 17 of the freed hostages had indicated they wanted to return to war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Britain was examining political asylum requests from 69 other hostages freed from the Afghan plane, while 19 men were under arrest in connection with the hijacking. Some were due to appear in court on Monday.

"It took some time to do the interviews to establish people's intentions and explain what their options were and what the implications were," a Home Office (interior ministry) spokeswoman told Reuters.

"All the ones staying behind are not leaving voluntarily. It's my understanding that would mean they are claiming asylum."

Some media reports said the increase in the number going home followed assurances about personal safety from the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban authorities in Kabul.

The spokeswoman said the 73 former hostages going home were 58 men, eight women and seven children.

The aircraft would take the former hostages to Kandahar in Afghanistan, she said.

The BBC said the plane would refuel in the United Arab Emirates.

Taliban authorities, who have no diplomatic relations with Britain, have asked for the return of all the former hostages.

The hijack of the Afghan Boeing 727 became a major political issue in Britain when media reports during the standoff suggested it was a scam by the hijackers and many of those on board to seek asylum and a more comfortable life under Britain's welfare system.

When the four-day hijack ended at London's Stansted airport last Thursday it quickly emerged through official channels that dozens had applied for asylum.

The opposition Conservatives accused Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Jack Straw of turning Britain into a "soft touch" for asylum seekers.

Straw hit back on Sunday, insisting he had the powers to turn the former hostages away if they were not granted asylum.

"We can. Once processes are concluded we have every right to remove people from this country who do not have right to remain. It happens every day," Straw told BBC television.

Straw said Britain faced a dilemma between its obligation to provide asylum to those with a well-founded fear of persecution at home, and its duty to "prevent and deter the very serious international terrorist crime of hijacking".

Human rights activists urged Straw not to deport those wanting to stay in Britain after their gruelling ordeal and escape returning to miserable living conditions under the Taliban.

Police said on Monday they could not say how many people would be charged in connection with the hijacking but some would appear in court later in the day.

One of the Afghan plane's pilots told a news conference on Saturday that the armed hijackers, who seized the airliner on a domestic flight in Afghanistan, had threatened to kill their hostages and blow the plane up when it landed in Britain.-Reuters