THE DILEMMA facing the government over the fate of the seven Iraqi hi-jackers of the Sudan Airways jetliner is acute.

It is one of whether to treat them as terrorists or as desperate asylum-seekers in fear of their lives.

The first course would demand serious punishment - for which the law on hi-jacking allows up to life imprisonment - and expulsion from Britain.

The aim of that, of course, is to warn potential air pirates everywhere that there is no reward in this country for what is literally a terrifying crime.

The other option would, of course, be a recognition of what quickly became evident in this case - that these were no ordinary hi-jackers or terrorists, but men fleeing, significantly with their wives and children, from the dreadful destiny of execution at the hands of Saddam Hussein's evil regime.

That the Home Office states that their application for political asylum will be treated no differently from any other suggests that the latter course has been chosen.

But is the government right to do this when the move offers latent encouragement to others seeking a quick route to possible asylum in Britain?

We think so - but with an important proviso.

For though the objective of the Sudan Airways hi-jackers might be excusable the means to it remains a vile crime that subjected scores of innocent people aboard that plane to unimaginable fear.

That aspect of their deed cannot be ignored, even if their motives can be understood.

And though it would be unthinkable for this country to return these people to the certainty of the torture and death that the vengeful Saddam - who is, after all, an enemy of this country - has already shown awaits Iraqi dissidents, they cannot expect a full pardon.

For the deed alone, but more importantly as a deterrent to imitators, they should, if found guilty, be given little quarter in terms of punishment - and yet also receive a sympathetic hearing over their claims to asylum.

That way, the dilemma may be satisfactorily resolved and the scales of justice seen to be level still.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.