Nepal to make public hijack probe findings

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 7. The contents of a Nepalese inquiry into the December 24 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi would be made public, Mr. K.P. Gyawali, Nepal's ambassador to Pakistan, said today.

Mr. Gyawali, who was summoned to the Pakistani Foreign Office yesterday, had been asked by Islamabad to ``share'' the findings of the inquiry which would ``hopefully provide important clues in determining the responsibility for the condemnable action''.

When asked what his Government proposed to do about Pakistan's request, the Nepalese envoy told this correspondent that ``everybody was eager to find out what it contained''.

However, rather than sharing it with Pakistan alone, the contents of this report would be made public, he maintained. Mr. Gyawali could not provide any time-frame.

Pakistan, meanwhile, dismissed as ``manufactured evidence'' the statement made by the Indian Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, that all the five hijackers were Pakistani nationals.

A Foreign Office spokesman was quoted as saying yesterday that the statement was part of the ``continuing propaganda campaign of false accusations against Pakistan''.

``Since the ending of the drama, India has not established contact with Pakistan, nor provided any information about the hijackers' identity or any other relevant details....'' the spokesman said, adding that the evidence had been ``manufactured'' in the meantime.

Pakistan, clearly, is on the back-foot with India making the identities of the hijackers known and releasing their photographs to the press as well.

Islamabad has repeatedly denied that the hijackers were Pakistani nationals, a claim that is strange since the ``identity'' of the desperadoes involved in the hijacking was not known to Pakistan.

Militants had planned to kidnap Kapil Dev?

PTI reports:

The Al-Umar Mujahideen group, whose founder, Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, was freed by India in exchange for hostages on board the hijacked Indian Airlines plane, has claimed that it once tried to abduct the former Indian cricket team captain, Mr. Kapil Dev, to secure the militant's release, a Pakistani newspaper reported today.

``In 1996, we tried to kidnap Kapil Dev but our plans didn't work out,'' Mr. Naeemul Haq, head of the group's office in PoK, was quoted as telling The News.

The paper quoting the group said they succeeded in securing the release of 35-year-old Zargar in their third attempt.

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