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Advani denies he thought of resigning

Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani has described as baseless press reports that he wanted to resign in protest against his government's decision to set free three Kashmiri militants to secure the safe release of hostages onboard Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 that was hijacked on December 24.

''I fully support the government's decision to release three Kashmiri militants in exchange for hostages'' Advani told reporters at Mython in Bihar yesterday.

''It was not at all on soft terms that the release of hostages was obtained. I am happy with the way the situation was handled because under the circumstances the government had no other option,'' he said.

The union home minister was here to lay the foundation stone of the Damodar Valley Corporation's 1000-mw Mython right-bank mega thermal project.

In an obvious reference to Pakistan and the hijacking, he said the incident was a pointer to the amount of threat that India faced from its hostile neighbour.

''In this situation India must think deeply and accord top priority to strengthening its security,'' he said.

UNI

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