Kidnapped Britons appalled by foreign office decision

LONDON, JANUARY 3: Three Britons kidnapped by Ahmad Omar Sayyed Sheikh, a militant of Pakistani origin released on Friday by India in exch...

LONDON, JANUARY 3: Three Britons kidnapped by Ahmad Omar Sayyed Sheikh, a militant of Pakistani origin released on Friday by India in exchange for 155 hostages aboard the hijacked Indian Airlines plane, have reacted sharply to the British foreign office decision to allow him to enter Britain.

Media reports here quoted Rhys Partridge, Miles Croston and Paul Rideout, as saying that they were appalled to learn that Sheikh, a British passport holder, would be allowed to return to Britain without fear of charge. "It is an outrage that he is now free," Rhys’ mother Pamela said.

They were reacting to the foreign office spokesman’s statement yesterday that Britain would allow him entry as Sheikh, a member of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul Ansar, "is a British citizen and has not been convicted of any offence overseas…"

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"We always knew it would come back to haunt us," Rhys, who was spending his holidays with the other two at his home in Australia, was quoted as saying by Times newspaper. Sheikh’s release, they said, was a "disgrace and a signal to others to do the same" — seek release of other militants.

Sheikh, 26, a former maths student at the London School of Economics, was arrested in 1994 for kidnapping of the three Britons. He had befriended the three Britons and persuaded them to travel to Saharanpur in UP where they were held at gunpoint, before being rescued by Indian police.

Sheikh was in prison in Delhi awaiting trial on terrorism charges when he was released.

The three Britons said they had particular reason to remember Sheikh among the kidnappers. They recalled that during their captivity, Sheikh would chat about his time in London. Sometimes he would be nostalgic and at other times, he would threaten to kill them, they said.

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"All three came within hair’s breadth of being killed so they are disgusted as I am. They were always suspicious this man had never been put on trial, even though he has been in jail since 1994. He got away with all he wanted and now how many other innocents are going to suffer?" Pamela asked.

The deal to end the hijack was also condemned by a British woman whose husband was tortured and murdered by a militant group led by Maulana Masood Azhar who was released as part of the hijack deal.

Julie Mangan, 35, who made an unfruitful visit to Masood in his Kashmir prison cell to ask for his help in finding the body of her husband, Keith, and four other men in 1997, said the decision was "scandalous".

"I was shocked to see his face on television again and to hear his name," she said. Keith Mangan and another Briton, Paul Wells, were among five western tourists kidnapped and killed in 1995 while trekking in Kashmir.