Hijacked Passengers Head Home

B A G H D A D, Iraq, Oct. 15, 2000 -- They had been in the air only two hours when first class passengers noticed a flight attendant emerge from the cockpit with tears in her eyes.

Passengers became more concerned when the “fasten seat belts” warning light failed to go off and the monitor tracking their flight went blank.

London-bound Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 115 had beenhijacked.

But passengers weren’t told this while they were in the air, andthe crew remained so calm that some passengers learned of it onlyafter the plane landed in Baghdad late Saturday after a 7½-hourodyssey that began in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.

“I first thought we landed at Heathrow in London. But when Ilooked through the window I said to myself, ‘This is not London,’” said Iqbal Dawood from Pakistan, one of the 103 passengers and crew on the flight.

Half an hour after landing, the captain announced to passengersthat the plane had been hijacked and that negotiations were underway.

Glad to Go Home

The two hijacking suspects surrendered without incident inBaghdad.

Passengers and crew from Flight 115 spent the night in Baghdad,then boarded their plane—some running in joy across the tarmac tothe Boeing 777—to leave this evening. A few hours later, theplane landed at Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia, where passengerswere given bouquets of flowers as they exited.

All but seven of the passengers then boarded another flight forLondon. Six Saudi citizens and the flight’s sole American chose tonot to board the flight.

Suspects Identified

The hijackers released their captives and surrendered Saturday after negotiating with Iraqi officials.

Officials said the hijackers twice threatened to destroy the plane: once in the air and again on the tarmac of Baghdad’s airport.

Speaking to reporters at the airport with the permission of Iraqi officials, the hijackers said they opposed the arch-conservative Saudi monarchy and wanted it abolished. They also said they ordered Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 115 to Iraq because “the Iraqi people are under embargo and because we trust the Iraqis and they will not betray us.”

The suspects, identified by Saudi Arabian officials as Faisalal-Biloowi and Ayish al-Faridi, told reporters they hijacked theplane to demand rights for the Saudi people.

“We want to choose our own leaders. The time of kings andmonarchies is over,” al-Faridi said.

The men also complained about human rights abuses, corruptionand unemploymen, and they criticized the Saudi government’s defense ties to the United States

“Saudi people cannot find work and they bring foreigners in toprotect us. We can protect ourselves,” said al-Faridi, half hisface hidden behind a scarf.

Saudi officials said on condition of anonymity that al-Biloowiwas an undercover security officer at the Jiddah airport andal-Faridi was a border guard.

Hijackers’ Fate

The hijacking took place at a time when anti-U.S. sentiment isrunning high in a region wracked by bloody Israeli-Palestinianclashes. Many Arabs believe the United States favors Israel, butthe Saudi government is a close U.S. ally and has allowed U.S.troop bases on its territory since the Gulf War.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the hijackers were armed orhow they seized control of the aircraft. One of the hijackers atone point threatened to blow up the plane unless it was allowed tofly to Baghdad, Saudi officials said.

Taher Haboush, the Iraqi official who led negotiations with thehijackers, said the men asked for political asylum. But they deniedrequesting asylum and said they would eventually like to leaveIraq.

Saudi Arabia will demand their immediate extradition, SaudiArabia’s Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed said today.Hijacking carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

It is unclear whether Iraq will heed the Saudi demand. Thecountries have had no relations since Iraqi troops invaded Kuwaitin 1990, but a pre-Gulf War treaty provides for extradition.

Various Nationalities

Saudi airline officials said the passengers were 40 Britons, 15Saudis, 15 Pakistanis, four Yemenis, four South Africans, twoKenyans, and one each from France, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Oman,the Palestinian territories, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and theUnited States.

One of the passengers was a 19-year-old cousin of Saudi KingFahd, who was on his way to London to study English.

The plane was traveling from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, to London whenthe hijackers seized it, ordering it around the Middle East beforelanding in Baghdad.

Word of the hijacking first emerged in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptiancivil aviation officials said the pilot radioed them at 3:55 p.m.local time to say the plane had been commandeered and the hijackerswere insisting that it fly to Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Syrians Withhold Permission

When the plane got to Syria, the hijackers asked to land and were deniedpermission, Cypriot air traffic controllers said on condition ofanonymity. Circling over the Mediterranean, the hijackers thenasked to fly through Syrian airspace to Iraq, the Cypriots said.

The Syrians initially refused but later changed their mind,Damascus air traffic controllers said, and the plane flew throughSyria to Baghdad.

Damascus airport officials speaking on condition of anonymityhad said the plane landed in Damascus, but they later backed off ofthose statements, saying they were erroneous. The official SyrianArab News Agency reported that the plane never landed in Damascus,but flew over Syria to Iraq.

Baghdad’s Saddam airport was reopened on Aug. 17, having beenshut during the 1991 Gulf War. Regular flights to Baghdad arebanned by the U.N. sanctions imposed since the invasion of Kuwait,but a series of planes have landed at Saddam airport in the pastthree weeks as France, Russia and a dozen Arab states sentdelegations and humanitarian aid to Iraq.

Saturday’s attack was the second hijacking in the Gulf in amonth.

On Sept. 14, an Iraqi man hijacked a Qatar Airways plane atknife point and ordered it flown to Saudi Arabia. The 144 passengersand the crew escaped unharmed when the man surrendered to Saudiauthorities at the city of Hael.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.