Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia has asked Britain to turn over 12 Afghans due to go on trial in London Monday for allegedly hijacking a passenger jet bound for London last year.
Ariana Afghan Airlines President Mawlawi Hamidullah said the goup should be sent home to be tried and punished according to Islamic Sharia law.
"We have always asked that they be tried in a Sharia court," he said.
The 12 men in February last year allegedly hijacked a domestic Ariana flight with more than 150 passengers and ordered it to fly to Britain after several stops in former Soviet republics.
All men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"I believe we had demanded their extradition before too. Law, Sharia law is existing here and no criminal is punished without a crime," Hamidullah said.
"It is clear that it has happened very often that a recognized criminal has not been punished (in non-Sharia courts) in a way befitting to his crime," he said when asked if he thought the Afghan and British courts were different.
After several days of drama on the tarmac at Stansted airport near London, the incident came to a peaceful end when the passengers were released without harm and the alleged hijackers surrendered to police.
But then the plot thickened, as almost half of the hostages, many of whom were found to be related to each other and the alleged hijackers, applied for political asylum in Britain.
Hamidullah said he was not sure to what extent the family members collaborated in the hijacking, but if they did they should also be punished severely.
The puritanical Islamic Taliban regime is only recognized by three countries and has no extradition treaties.
Under its harsh mix of Sharia and tribal laws, thieves have their hands chopped off, murderers are executed by their victims' families and homosexuals are killed by having a tank flatten a wall on them.
Kabul's main sports stadium is frequently packed out with spectators for the public punishments, which are one of the main forms of entertainment here after the Taliban banned television and music as non-Islamic -- KABUL (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
