THE BRITISH Prime Minister, Mr John Major stressed yesterday the seven hijackers of a Sudanese airliner would be tried and punished in England, despite demands by Conservative backbenchers that they should be deported immediately.
However, Mr Major insisted that the hijackers request for political asylum would only be considered after any criminal proceedings have been resolved.
It is understood that the seven men, who are Iraqi dissidents, could face up to 20 years in jail if they are convicted.
"The prosecuting authorities will have to decide whether there "is a prosecution to be made. If there is that will be mounted in this country. I expect that will be the first thing that will happen. Thereafter other matters will be looked at, " Mr Major said.
The seven hijackers, their wives and two children, who all surrendered after several hours of negotiations at Stansted, airport on Tuesday, are in police custody.
However, officers could not begin questioning the hijackers until translators and solicitors had arrived.
Although the official Iraqi News Agency stated that the seven hijackers were not diplomats, they are now believed to be Iraqi army officers.
The men hijacked the Sudanese plane, which was carrying 199 passengers on Monday night 25 minutes after it had left Khartoum for Amman in Jordan.
The pilot was ordered to diverted it to Cyprus, where the plane refuelled before flying onto Stansted airport.
Several right wing Tory backbenchers have demanded that the hijackers are immediately deported to "prove that Britain is not a safe haven for terrorists."
However, one centre left Conservative, Sir Julian Critchley pointed out that the seven men would be executed if they returned to either Iraq or Sudan.
"The Sudanese government is an Islamic fundamentalist government with a vile record on human rights," Sir Julian argued.
The Iraqi government, under its present leadership, against whom we were recently at war, would execute their opponents."
Sir Julian added: "The hijackers should stand trial and face imprisonment. That would be a sufficient price to pay for political asylum."
After being debriefed by police officers, the hostages, who are recovering from their ordeal in a five star hotel, said they initially thought the hijackers were going to bomb the plane and that several passengers tried to overpower them.
Mr Ahmed Abu Basher, a Sudanese businessman, said he thought he was going to die. "It was like a football riot, there was so much noise and fighting. The hijackers had knives and we thought they were going to start killing people," he said.
"A security man hit one of them in the face so another hijacker stabbed him. Then they grabbed two of the stewardesses and threatened them with knives".
Mr Abu Basher said. "For the first half hour it was terrifying."
However, police declined to comment on reports of violence. We are not prepared to discuss anything that could be part of our investigations," a police spokeswoman said.