India to Hijackers: Get Out

India has asked an Italian merchant ship and 14 stowaways who hijacked it last week to leave the country as soon as possible, a Coast Guard official said. The ship called MV Med Star is anchored off Bombay. Indian immigration officials have been interrogating the stowaways, 10 Iranians and four Iraqis, who had wanted political asylum in a European country. The 15,000-ton cargo ship, initially destined for the port of Kandla in Gujarat, was hijacked by the stowaways off the Indian coast last week. During negotiations with the Germany-based ship owners association, they were persuaded to give up and allow the ship to proceed to Bombay.