Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Hijackers free, helpers get life - Kandahar cuffs on trio after 7-year trial

From The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) , February 6, 2008, comes this article Hijackers free, helpers get life - Kandahar cuffs on trio after 7-year trial, in reference to the December 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814.

The article notes:

The masterminds, Masood Azhar, Ahmed Zargar and Sheikh Ahmed Omar Sayeed, are still out. The three were freed in exchange for the 189 passengers held hostage in Afghanistan’s Kandahar for a week.

For many Indians, it was a matter of shame that there was no Entebbe-type of raid when the plane landed in Amritsar. That shame was compounded when then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh personally handed over Masood Azhar, Ahmed Zargar and Sheikh Ahmed Omar Sayeed to end the standoff.

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