UK allows hijacker Leila back

A notorious Palestinian hijacker was allowed back into Britain to make a speech at London University in which she praised suicide bombers as "freedom fighters".

Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which last week claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Israel, hijacked a TWA plane in 1969 and tried to seize another flight the following year. She was jailed for 28 days and then freed in exchange for a hostage.

Khaled, who has since become a powerful member of the PLFP, addressed about 100 students at a meeting at the School for Oriental and African Studies. She told the meeting: "There are no suicide bombers. They are freedom fighters."

After her second hijacking, 32 years ago, Khaled was charged but not put on trial and so technically could still face prosecution here.