Saudis Storm Hijacked Russian Plane

M E D I N A, Saudi Arabia, March 16, 2001 -- Three people were killed as Saudi troops stormed a hijacked Russian airliner and freed more than 100 passengers today, officials said.

"The operation ended and the hostages are freed," said anofficial at the Medina airport.

But there were diverging reports of just who had died in the raid on the plane, seized after it took off from Istanbul on Thursday by hijackers who issued demands that Russia end its tough military campaign in the rebel Muslim region of Chechnya.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said one hijacker and twohostages were killed when Saudi security forces stormed theplane.

Abdul Aziz Mahmoud Masalhi, a senior member of the medicalteam at Medina airport, told reporters: "Three hijackers,including one woman, were killed. One hijacker was arrested and several passengers injured."

In Moscow, a senior Russian official said the dead were apassenger, a crew member and a hijacker.

"According to our information, three people died during theoperation — one of the terrorists, the youngest one, a female flight attendant and one Turkish passenger," the Russian said.

Witnesses saw a handcuffed man in his 20s being driven outof the airport in an ambulance. The freed hostages were taken away on four buses.

Weary Passengers

One Russian woman passenger said after being taken to ahotel in Medina: "I saw three hijackers. They treated us well, but sometimes they threatened to blow up the plane. We were frightened and worried. I am tired now."

One woman who was in tears refused to talk. Other freedhostages gathered in the lobby of the hotel chatting.

A Saudi security man who said he had taken part in theattack said none of the Saudi troops had been hurt.

The aircraft had been bound for Moscow with 162 passengersand 12 crew when it was seized. More than 40 hostages werereported released or escaped in Medina before it was stormed.

Tough Negotiations

The rescue raid followed tough negotiations. Shortly beforethe storming, hijackers were shown on television talking with a Saudi negotiator on the steps of the plane, parked in a remote part of the airport runway.

At that point, there were ambulances and fire trucks but nosign of security forces in the vicinity of the airliner. A group of armored vehicles and troops was stationed some distance away.

A Russian diplomat said however Saudi forces had ringed theplane for a while during the night to prevent it from taking off after negotiations ran into difficulties.

A red, green and white striped Chechen flag had draped theopen door of the Tupolev 154, operated by Vnukovo Airlines.

A Saudi airport official said the hijackers had beendemanding enough fuel to fly 3,000 miles. He did not say where they wanted to go. Officials said Saudi negotiators had demanded the release of all hostages.

Before the storming Saudi and Russian officials had saidmore than 40 people had either been released, including a flight attendant stabbed by the hijackers, or escaped through the rear exit of the plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a skiing holiday inSiberia, ordered the formation of a special crisis team of top officials to deal with the hijack, the Kremlin said.

He had ordered a hotline set up to put him in direct contact with the negotiators, according to the Russian diplomat.

"President Putin wants to be informed about any decision onthe hijackers, but he has always stressed the need to end this crisis peacefully," he added.

It took negotiators three hours to find a Chechen-Arabictranslator, which delayed the start of negotiations.

'Trained Officer'

The Russian diplomat said the hijackers' leader was a"highly trained military officer who appears to know what he is doing."

In Amman, a representative of the former Chechen republic,Atfayva Fariza, identified him as Artsayev Aslambik.

Asked to comment on suggestions that the representative wasreferring to former general and Chechen Interior MinisterAslanbek Arsayev, the Russian diplomat said: "It could well be true. But we are not 100 percent sure."

A pro-Chechen press agency which describes itself as theoutlet for statements by separatist forces in Chechnya said the rebels had nothing to do with the hijack because "hostage-taking and blackmail are not our way of fighting."

Arsayev promised to establish the "cult of law" in Chechnyaamid rampant kidnapping by armed bands and illegal oil refining, but failed to achieve serious results.

He survived two assassination attempts unscathed and stepped down in early 1999, ostensibly for health reasons. He was wounded in fighting with Russian troops in 2000 and has not been heard from since.