President Zia-uL-Haq has said that the four gunmen who hijacked a Pan Am jumbo jet would be hanged if convicted of murder and hijacking. “They will receive the punishment that such a crime deserves,” he sais. Gen Zia said the hijackers would not be extradited to the US. He dismissed suggestions that the security forces had botched the operation by not storming the plane fast enough.

Pan Am death toll rises

The death toll in the Pan Am hijack rose to 19 as controversy over the bloody end to the siege continued and police launched a hunt for any accomplices of the hijackers. A hospital spokesman said another three people had died of wounds received when the four gunmen began spraying bullets around the darkened Boeing 747.

AFRICA Fund

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The Action for Resisting Invasion, Colonialism and Apartheid Fund (AFRICA Fund) that the non-aligned summit has decided to set up will have limited application. Even though leaders of non-aligned countries have rejected the appeal of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, for armed support to frontline states, the proposed fund will be utilised to create a limited self-defence security system.

Pinochet escapes attack

The Chilean President, Gen Augusto Pinochet, escaped with only a slight hand-wound when left-wing guerrillas attacked his motorcade last night with machine-guns, hand grenades and rockets. Five of his bodyguards were killed and six others wounded.