Police in Essex have arrested a total of 21 people in connection with the Afghan hijacking at Stansted Airport. At least 60 of those on the airliner are seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom, although the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, warned that he wanted most sent back to Afghanistan, or a third country. The four-day siege came to an end peacefully early this morning. All 151 people on board the hijacked plane disembarked in two waves in the early hours of this morning. During a search of the Boeing 727, police recovered several weapons including four handguns, five knives and two grenades.
British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, has welcomed the conclusion of the hijacking without loss of life or injury, but he said that no deal of any kind had been struck to achieve the peaceful end to the hijacking crisis. Speaking in the Commons after the arrests, Mr Straw signalled that he would try to send back all those on board the aircraft, saying the British government was determined to show there could be no benefit from hijacking.
The hijackers released 85 of the 151 hostages at about 3am this morning and then freed their remaining captives shortly before 6am. The first indication that something dramatic was about to happen came shortly after 2am, when two of the hijackers stepped down from the back of the plane. It was later confirmed that they entered into face to face talks with negotiators and one hour later armed police and fire officers surrounded the plane as the first group of hostages emerged.
A report from Afghanistan yesterday strengthened speculation that the motive of the hijackers may have been to seek asylum abroad. The company that owns the plane, Ariana, claimed that up to 40 of the passengers were pretending to be on their way to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, and that they were part of a hijacking conspiracy. An Afghan news agency said that the claim was first made by a steward who was released during a stopover in the Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent.
