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Pakistan News Service, December 28, 1999
Nepal dismisses Indian charges : FP
KATHMANDU (Agencies) - Nepal Foreign Minister
Ram Sharan Mahat said Monday good security was maintained at the
international airport where a hijacked Indian Airlines jet began
its flight. He also told a press conference some of the hostages
onboard the plane included family members of Kathandu-based
Indian diplomats.
"Our security arrangements are as good as those of any of
the international airports," he said, adding however, an
investigation had been ordered. Mahat also denied the
four Pakistani hijackers boarded the Indian Airlines flight
directly after arriving on a flight from Pakistan.
"We deny that the hijackers boarded the IA-814 flight
directly at the Kathmandu airport from the PIA (Pakistan
International Airways) aircraft. We would not believe
this unless it is confirmed by the investigation team," he
said.
Two of the Nepalese hostages were from the UNDP offices in
Kathmandu and Islamabad, Mahat said. An Indian diplomatic
source in Kathmandu gave the names of the hijackers as Ahmed
Sheikh, S.A. Qazi, Ibrahim Mistry, Sayed Akhtar Sayed, all
Pakistanis, and Gajendra Man Tamrakar, a Nepali. Mahat denied any
Nepali citizen was involved. Islamabad also expressed surprise
over the latest twist in the Indian propaganda against Pakistan.
It said first New Delhi-released list did not include names of
any Pakistanis on board the hijacked plane.
Pakistan News Service, January 25, 2000
Nepal finds no Pakistan link to hijack
KATHMANDU (FP) - An investigation into
the hijacking of an Indian Airlines jet from here on Christmas
Eve has found no evidence to back allegations the Pakistani
secret service was involved, Nepalese sources close to the
inquiry said Monday.
"The probe has failed to collect any solid proof of
involvement by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) in the
hijacking," one investigation source said. But the
head of the five-member investigation committee, Hem Bahadur
Singh, declined to comment to reporters on whether the ISI was
involved.
"We have wrapped up the security and other matters in the
report," said Singh, a former police inspector general.
In a 64-page document to Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister
Vijaya Kumar Gachheddar, the investigators recommended the
government beef up security at Tribhuvan International Airport,
where the hijacking started.
"After presenting the report to the cabinet on Thursday, I
will reveal the gist of the contents of the investigations made
by the special five-man committee," Singh said. The
eight-day hijack drama, which began when five men seized the
flight from Nepal to New Delhi, ended News Year's Eve at Kandahar
airport in southern Afghanistan.
Nepal Index