Indian negotiators last night held their first talks with the hijackers holding 160 people hostage on an Indian airliner in Afghanistan.
One of the hijackers came out of the Airbus 300 to hold talks with the seven-member Indian delegation at Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban official quoted by the Press Trust of India said.
The talks were attended by the United Nations' co-ordinator for Afghanistan, Mr Erick de Mul. The 160 passengers and crew have been held on the aircraft since last Friday.
Earlier the Muslim militant hijackers had set a deadline for starting to execute their captives. It passed apparently without incident.
"The hijackers have threatened they will start killing the passengers if the Indian government does not take concrete steps [to meet their demands]," said Mr de Mul.
He added that the passengers were in bad mental and physical condition according to the captain. One passenger has been killed and another injured.
Officials who delivered food to the A300 Airbus said some people appeared to be falling ill. It was commandeered by five armed men on Friday shortly after leaving Nepal for India. Since landing in Afghanistan on Saturday, it has been refuelled.
The hijackers want India to release a Pakistani cleric, Mohammed Azhar Masood, who has been jailed for supporting Kashmiri separatism, and a number of Kashmiri separatist fighters.
Afghanistan's ruling Taleban has said its forces will storm the aircraft if any more hostages are harmed. Several truckloads of Taleban militiamen have taken up positions close to the aircraft. The Afghan authorities have warned the hijackers to surrender or leave the country.