KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Indian officials spoke with the hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane today while mechanics tried to restart the engines, which are necessary to circulate air and control the temperatures on board the aircraft being held in Afghanistan.

Tuesday, December 28, 1999

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Indian officials spoke with the hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane today while mechanics tried to restart the engines, which are necessary to circulate air and control the temperatures on board the aircraft being held in Afghanistan.

The negotiations began after hijackers threatened to start killing the 155 passengers and crew.

At one point a masked hijacker left the aircraft and sat in a vehicle parked beneath the nose of the aircraft. Officials contacted at the Kandahar airport indicated he had left the aircraft for negotiations.

But the Taliban’s Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil told reporters that the hijacker left the aircraft as insurance for the safety of an Indian engineer, who boarded the damaged aircraft to try to repair it.

The hijackers are demanding that India release several Kashmiri militants and a Pakistani-born cleric. Four years ago, India refused a similar demand to free the cleric after six Western tourists were kidnapped while hiking in Kashmir.

Muslim militants have been waging an insurgency in Indian-held Kashmir, demanding either independence for the Himalayan state or union with Islamic Pakistan.

The Indian government has come under heavy pressure from relatives and supporters of the hostages to do whatever is needed to end the crisis.

The Indian negotiators have spoken three times to the hijackers. Indian negotiators who spoke on condition of anonymity said the talks would take time. The content of the discussions was not immediately known.

At least one hostage has been killed.

Erick de Mul, the U.N. coordinator for Afghanistan, said ”there has been no breakthrough in the talks.”

Conditions have deteriorated for the 160 passengers and 11 crew members held aboard the Indian Airlines plane since Friday. Many of the passengers are believed to be honeymooners returning from Nepal.