Canadian court rejects appeal against deportation by Indian hijacker

A convicted hijacker of an Indian aircraft has lost his appeal against deportation from Canada.

Rejecting the appeal from Tejinder Pal Singh, a Sikh, a Canadian federal court judge, Frances Muldoon, said Canada is not a haven for terrorists.

Mr Singh and several accomplices diverted the Air India flight from India to Pakistan in 1981 -- a time of great tension between Sikhs and the Indian government.

Mr Singh spent fourteen years in prison in Pakistan, was deported and came to Canada on a false passport.

Mr Singh had said he feared persecution in India and requests for his deportation to be postponed were made by the United Nations in Geneva and the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service