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Hijack drama Pakistan rejects Indian allegations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday rejected recent charges of Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and said the "baseless allegation", could only expose India's prejudice and malevolence not to mention ingratitude for Islamabad's cooperation throughout the hijacking crisis.

A Foreign Office spokesman in a statement said the Indian Airline had earlier published the list of passengers abroad the hijacked plane. "It did not include any Pakistani nationals".

We did everything possible to ensure the safety of the hostages aboard the hijacked plane during its unwelcome stay at the Lahore airport. "Jaswant Singh expressed gratitude to our Foreign Minister.

The Indian officials reportedly conducted the negotiations through specialised communication equipment which they had flown to Kandahar, he said.

If the officials obtained some particulars about the hijackers, these have not been disclosed to facilitate identification. "No one else listened to the dialogue between the Indians and the hijackers," he added.

The Indian Foreign Minister did not desist even from attributing a false statement to the Afghan Information Minister. "The latter has clarified that he did not say that the hijackers had left Afghanistan for Quetta in Pakistan."

The Pak government issued immediate instructions to all immigration checkpoints in the provinces of Balochistan and NWFP on December 31, when the hijacking ended, to arrest persons bearing the names of hijackers announced by the Indian Government if they sought entry into Pakistan. "So far no such persons has presented himself at any of the checkpoints."

Those who suggest Pakistan should arrest the hijackers make the naive assumption that the hijackers have entered Pakistan, he said. "To the best of our information, such an assumption is unwarranted."

The Indian Government has so far given no details as to the profiles of the hijackers, the spokesman said. In the absence of such details, it would be difficult to apprehend the culprits if they enter Pakistan by an unauthorised route, he said.

Nevertheless, our authorities will maintain strict vigilance and make almost efforts to arrest and investigate persons who look suspicious, he added.

The Pak government is cognizant of its obligations under the ICAO conventions, he said and added, "Due action will be taken in case the hijackers come into its custody. APP