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Congress worried about impact of hijack deal

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Congress party said on Friday the government's decision to release three militants in exchange for over 150 hostages on a hijacked aircraft would have far-reaching implications.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said he was concerned about the impact of the deal on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The entire law and order machinery will become lame duck," he said.

Mukherjee was speaking after India agreed with the hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane to release the Kashmiri militants from prison in exchange for the freedom of the passengers held hostage in the aircraft for eight days.

"We are happy at the release of hostages," Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi told reporters. "However, we feel that the decision of the government to concede the demand to release three terrorists will have serious and far-reaching implications."

The crisis ended after Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh flew to Kandahar with the militants - Masood Azhar, a Pakistani Muslim cleric, Ahmed Omar Sayed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed, leader of the Al-Umar separatist group.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the federal coalition, defended its decision.

"The government has done its best under the circumstances to save the lives of about 160 persons of different nationalities," party vice-president J.P. Mathur told Reuters.

"The international community should now realise the growing danger of Islamic fundamentalism and evolve a mechanism to suppress it," he said.-Reuters