Asylum lawyers were yesterday hoping to meet the remaining 69 former hostages from the hijacked Afghan airliner that landed at Stansted Airport to begin the fight for them to stay in Britain.
It comes as 13 men were remanded in custody by Southend magistrates charged in connection with the hijack drama.
Armed police surrounded the courtroom at Southend Magistrates Court on Monday as the group heard the charges read to them.
Sporting tracksuits, the men appeared before stipendiary magistrate Kevin Gray in groups, confirming only their names.
No applications for bail were made and charges were relayed through a pair of interpreters.
All are charged with hijacking Boeing 727 YA FAY and its passengers
Running the gauntlet - press photographers try to snap a shot of the suspects as they enter the court
Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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