Afghanistan hit out at the UN yesterday for not mediating to end a plane hijack crisis on its soil and said it wanted the Indian Airlines jet with at least 150 hostages aboard to leave the country. The hijackers have said they will crash the plane if they are forced to leave Afghanistan.
"We have been trying the whole day today for the United Nations to accept mediation between the hijackers and the Indian government and take the matter into its hands, but the United Nations refused to do it," Mr Abdul Wakil Muttawakil said.
He also criticised India in its handling of the issue. "The Indians should have come here and talked to the hijackers . . . Delhi has ignored us. The hijackers are threatening to blow up the plane if anyone comes near it," Mr Muttawakil said.
The hijackers, understood to be Muslim militants, have killed at least one of those aboard the aircraft and are threatening to blow it up unless their demands are met. They are said to be armed with grenades, pistols and knives.
The release of one unidentified passenger yesterday was the first since the hijackers freed 27 hostages in exchange for fuel in the United Arab Emirates on Friday. While in Dubai, they also handed over the body of an Indian businessman, Mr Rupin Katyal, who had been stabbed in the neck. He had been returning from his honeymoon with his wife.
The hijackers are demanding the release from an Indian jail of Maulana Masood Azhar, a leading figure in the Kashmiri separatist movement. One of the hijackers is understood to be the brother of Azhar.
The aircraft, an A300 Airbus, has been on the tarmac at Kandahar airport, surrounded by heavily armed security guards, since landing early on Saturday morning. Most of those aboard are Indian citizens.
The gang took control of the plane as it flew from Kathmandu, in Nepal, to the Indian capital, Delhi. They ordered it to land briefly at the Indian city of Amritsar before flying to Lahore in Pakistan and landing without permission. There it refuelled and flew to Dubai, where again it was refuelled before flying to Afghanistan.
The UN co-ordinator for Afghanistan, Mr Erik de Mul, flew into Kandahar yesterday to help deal with the crisis.
Three of the hijackers are reported to be Kashmiris, one a Nepali and one an Afghan.