Hijackers wait for French verdict on asylum

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 8

Hijackers wait for French verdict on asylum

NZPA-Reuter Nice, France

Eight Iranians and an aircraft they seized waited under guard at Nice airport yesterday as France considered appeals from four of them for political asylum. After Egypt and Italy refused to grant sanctuary, they flew into Nice on Tuesday aboard the Iranian Navy Fokker 27 which they commandeered in Iran on Saturday.

Government officials said that France at first had rejected an asylum request from a civilian air traffic controller who helped the aircraft leave Iranian airspace and three military officers, including an Iranian Navy commander who piloted the plane.

But the Government later said it would study their request. The other four Iranians apparently wish to return home.

“We are awaiting word from Paris," said a police spokesman in Nice yesterday. “We don’t expect to hear before tomorrow.”

An agreement to grant asylum could further dam-

age the poor relations between France and Iran. The two countries are at odds over French diplomatic and military support for Iraq in the Gulf war, with Iran, and France’s policy of accepting Iranian exiles.

The Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny, lived outside Paris before the Islamic revolution that took him to power in early 1979.

Paris has since given refuge to several prominent opposition leaders, including the former President, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, and a resistance leader, Massoud Rajavi.

the French Government said yesterday that it would return the Navy aircraft to Iran.

It was not known whether the men who commandeered it would be charged with any offence. The police said that no weapons had been found on the plane. In July last year several Iranians were charged after hijacking a Boeing 747 from Iran to Paris with 180 people on board.