(29 Dec 1999) English/Nat
There are more signs the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are growing impatient with the hijacking episode being carried out there.
The Taliban has said it will not allow the hijacked Indian Airlines plane to remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.
On Wednesday the hijackers dropped demands for a ransom, and the return of the body of a Kashmiri militant.
That is being viewed as a breakthrough in negotiations aimed at ending the six-day hijacking.
Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said the Taliban had intervened at Indian negotiators' request, convincing the hijackers to back off in their demand for a 200 (m) million U-S dollar ransom.
They also convinced the militants to drop the demand for money by saying it violated the tenets of Islam, as did removing a body from its burial ground.
The hijackers are still insisting on the release of 35 prisoners from Indian jails and freedom for imprisoned cleric Masood Azhar.
In return they have promised to release the 155 passengers and crew of the plane, which is sitting on the tarmac at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
But there are signs that the Taliban is losing patience, reiterating that the plane will not be allowed to remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.
The International Red Cross and United Nations have erected emergency medical tents near the aircraft.
A U-N Field Officer for Afghanistan Alan Brimelow said the hijacker who'd left the plane on Tuesday for negotiations had appeared calm.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
(Q - How did the hijacker appear?) "We can say that he appeared lucid, calm, collected and committed to whatever he seemed prepared to achieve (Q - How much preparation has gone into this hijacking?) Difficult to say really - I think I have no idea - it seems to me that they were relatively set on whatever actions they were taking but other than that I couldn't comment."
SUPER CAPTION: Alan Brimelow, U-N Field Officer - Afghanistan
One Indian passenger had been released on Sunday for medical reasons.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Our point was to the hostage takers that we were there to assist in the resolution of the situation and as a show of good faith we requested that the passengers be released. Obviously our aim was to get all of them released but that transpired to one only and we're grateful for that at least. "
SUPER CAPTION: Alan Brimelow, U-N Field Officer - Afghanistan
Medicines from the Red Cross have been supplied to a passenger on board who is a doctor.
Indian officials have said there are five hijackers armed with grenades, pistols and knives.
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