Stansted: hostages spent several days on the jet

He told the appeal panel he was imprisoned for 40 days by Afghanistan's Taleban authorities and beaten over the head with a brick until he was unconscious.

The father-of-eight said he had previously carried out secret operations for Mujaheddin and feared he would be hanged in public if he was sent back.

Allowing his appeal Judge Hubert Dunn said he had a "well founded fear of persecution" because of his political opinions.

The successful asylum seeker was among 170 people who arrived at Stansted airport on a hijacked flight on February 7 this year.

The plane, which was an Ariana Airlines Boeing 727, was hijacked on an internal flight from Kabul to Mazar-I-Sharif in Afghanistan.

Further appeals

A total of 77 passengers and four flight crew have since returned home voluntarily.

Twelve people were arrested in connection with the hijack and 51 people, with 26 dependents, applied for asylum. Fifteen of those applications have yet to be decided, 33 were refused and three were granted.

Thirty-two people appealed the decision, one withdrew.

Out of the thirty-two appeals, two have now been granted and 29 dismissed. One more passenger will have an appeal heard on September 5.

Those whose appeals were dismissed are likely to make further appeals to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.

David Enright, who represents five of the Afghans, said he was "100% certain" that they would all ultimately remain in Britain.

"The appeal panel concluded that these people would be detained and investigated if they were returned to Afghanistan," he said.

Persecution

He said any assurances given by the Taliban that they would not be persecuted could not be trusted because of their previous record.

The public interest in deterring future hijacks for the purposes of claiming asylum is a very strong one

Jack Straw Home Secretary

Asylum seekers whose appeals were dismissed included a 21-year-old former medical student who told the hearing he would rather die than be sent back.

A 41-year-old father-of-seven, who wanted to bring his family to Britain, said he had been tortured and put in a basement for 20 days by the Taleban.

A 25-year-old mechanic said he had been stabbed in the knee and kicked in the testicles by a Taliban commander.

Home Secretary Jack Straw, after refusing the applications in March, said: "The public interest in deterring future hijacks for the purposes of claiming asylum is a very strong one and, therefore, I have decided that they should not be given permission to stay in this country."