THE father of Blackburn hostage Paul Wells today warned that innocent people will continue to suffer in the battle over Kashmir until the cleric at the centre of the Indian Airlines hijacking is given a fair trial.

The hijackers, who seized the plane carrying 160 passengers six days ago, is calling for the release from jail of Maulana Masood Azhar and 34 other Kashmiri militants and payment of 200 million US dollars.

The Pakistani cleric is linked to the group which took Paul hostage in Kashmir in 1995. A call was also made for his release then.

Today Paul's father, Bob Wells, said Masood Azhar had not been put on trial since his arrest in 1994.

Mr Wells, of Feniscowles, Blackburn, said: "After all this time they should not let Masood Azhar out of jail but on the other hand I do believe that he is in jail without trial.

"It is well known in that region that a lot of people are taken to prison and not given a trial immediately.

"I would have thought one way out of this would be to put Masood Azhar on trial and let him have his say, let other people have their say and see where the truth lies."

Mr Wells said he had spoken to Maulana Masood Azhar a couple of years ago in jail in Jammu.

"He was adamant that he is an innocent man. I don't know whether he is or not. If he is innocent he should not be afraid of going to trial.

"I think the key is to get the judicial system sorted out and put these people on trial. If they are innocent, release them, and if they are not, imprison them, but justly." Mr Wells said he was not surprised that the group behind the hijacking had taken action, but he was surprised that they had been able to seize the plane.

"You would think that a high level of security would be in operation in all countries in the region, including Nepal. It is a peaceful country but it is on the verge of this area which is festering," he said.

Mr Wells said the families of those being held on board the aircraft - who include many Westerners - would be feeling upset and angry. In some respects we were probably quite fortunate because when Paul was taken we had the backing of the British High Commission and Foreign Office. They were on the case straight away. Also it happened in quite an accessible place.

"Afghanistan is not accessible and it is even more dangerous that Kashmir so the families will be feeling very frightened for their loved ones on the plane. It is a very desperate time."

Mr Wells said it was unlikely that the resolution of the hijack situation would lead to any new information about Paul's disappearance being revealed.

He said: "The people that were responsible for Paul's kidnapping are no longer around. Most of them have been killed by the authorities. There are four or five of them in jail in India but there is nobody of any standing in the group there. "There is believed to be one person in Kashmir who had some connection with the group but nobody has been able to find him. He could be dead by now. It is a very violent society."

Mr Wells said he had spoken to members of Harkat ul-Ansar, a Kashmiri group with links to Masood Azhar and to those who kidnapped Paul.

"We begged them, pleaded with them to give us information that would lead us to where Paul was but their attitude was that they would say nothing and do nothing.

"I will never, ever forgive these people for what they have done."

The Wells family are to make a public appeal for information to the people of Kashmir in a newspaper article, due to be published soon in the Kashmir Times and hopefully in an Urdu newspaper on the Indian side of Kashmir, as well as one on the Pakistani side of the border.

He said: "People there should not be allowed to forget because Paul and the others kidnapped at the same time had done nothing, they just went there on holiday."

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