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Sunday, October 15, 2000

Hijacked Saudi airplane lands safely in Iraq
Two arrested; suspects upset over human rights in Saudi Arabia, officials report
By Waiel Faleh
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hijackers who commandeered a Saudi jetliner and took it to Baghdad were arrested late Saturday, Iraqi state television reported, ending a daylong ordeal for more than 100 people on board.
   The Boeing 777 was on its way from Saudi Arabia to London when the hijackers seized it over the Mediterranean Sea and forced the pilot to fly around the Mideast for several hours before landing.
   State television and airport officials said that the 7¤ -hour crisis ended at 11:20 p.m. local time after high-ranking government officials negotiated with the hijackers, who asked for political asylum.
   Two hijackers, both Saudi citizens, surrendered peacefully to Iraqi authorities, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. Previous reports said there were four hijackers.
   No other details were immediately available on how the hijacking ended, but state television said all the passengers were safe and were being taken to a Baghdad hotel.
   Al-Jazeera satellite television showed the passengers descending a ramp from the plane.
   "We are very grateful to the government of Iraq," said a middle-aged man identifying himself only as a Pakistani.
   Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based station that broadcasts to the Middle East, also showed a few women, children and several other men descending the ramp surrounded by plainclothes security agents.
   Speaking before the release, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official, Taher Haboush, said the hijackers had said they seized the plane because they were upset over an investigation into the Saudi human rights situation that was too favorable to the government.
   The hijackers also said they ordered the plane to fly to Baghdad because Iraq rejects "U.S. hegemony," Haboush said.
   It wasn't immediately clear if the hijackers were armed or what other means they used to seize control of the aircraft. A hijacker had at one point threatened to blow up the plane unless it was allowed to fly to Baghdad, Saudi officials said on condition of anonymity.
   After the plane landed in Baghdad, airport security was tight with guards turning away journalists. Ambulances, buses, a fire engine and a fuel tanker went into the airport as reporters watched.
   Saudi Arabian Airlines officials in Jiddah said the plane had 90 passengers and 15 crew, led by an Ethiopian captain. The passenger figure included the two hijackers.
   The airline officials said the passengers were 40 Britons, 15 Saudis, 15 Pakistanis, four Yemenis, four South Africans, two Kenyans, and one each from France, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

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