Afghan hijackers 'not spongers'

Here is an article from BBC News covering the asylum requests of the 9 hijackers who flew to Stansted from Afghanistan in 2000:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4767463.stm

I have to admit, this it a tough situation in the sense that where does threat of torture justify the criminal action in order to avoid it.  Then there is the larger political issue of the government sanctioning terrorism and hijackings.