IRAQ: 90 PASSENGERS HIJACKED ON BOARD A SAUDI AIRLINER RESUME JOURNEY TO LONDON AFTER THEIR ORDEAL ENDS PEACEFULLY IN BAGHDAD

Record ID: 648918

  • Title: IRAQ: 90 PASSENGERS HIJACKED ON BOARD A SAUDI AIRLINER RESUME JOURNEY TO LONDON AFTER THEIR ORDEAL ENDS PEACEFULLY IN BAGHDAD
  • Date: 15th October 2000
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (OCTOBER 15, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHTSHOTS) 1. SV'S: PASSENGERS LEAVE RACHID HOTEL (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. MV: BAGGAGE BEING LOADED ONTO COACH 0.17 3. PAN: COACHES LEAVE HOTEL 0.34 4. SV'S: SAUDI PRINCE AT AIRPORT (2 SHOTS) 0.49 5. SV'S: PASSENGERS AT BAGHDAD AIRPORT AND SECURITY AT AIRPORT (3 SHOTS) 1.07 6. PAN UP: SAUDI PRINCE WALKS UP AIRCRAFT STEPS 1.14 7. VARIOUS: PASSENGERS WALK UP STEPS (6 SHOTS) 1.45 8. PAN: AIRCRAFT TAKES OFF 1.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVACD215JW265YFEQP45APMRUYBS
  • Story Text: Ninety passengers hijacked on board a Saudi airliner
    have resumed their journey after their ordeal ended peacefully
    in Baghdad.


    The passengers, 40 of them British and also including a
    member of the Saudi royal family, left their hotel in buses
    for Saddam International Airport, where the two hijackers were
    arrested by Iraqi authorities.

    The Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777-200 was commandeered
    on a flight from the Saudi port city of Jeddah to London on
    Saturday.

    Keen to break a decade of international isolation
    following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq went an extra mile
    to ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers, who
    included a member of the Saudi royal family.

    Saudi Arabia's relations with the Iraqi leadership under
    Saddam Hussein have been hostile since the 1990 invasion of
    Kuwait. Both Saudi Arabian and British troops were part of the
    U.S.-led alliance that drove Iraq from Kuwait.

    The United Arab Emirates satellite television channel, Abu
    Dhabi, identified the two hijackers as Ayeish Ali al-Khalidi
    and Faisel Naji al-Bluey from Saudi Arabia. It said Khalidi
    had a brother who was a senior security officer at Jeddah
    airport.

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

    Few flights land at Saddam International because of
    continued U.N. sanctions imposed over the invasion of Kuwait.

    Calling for an abolition of the arch-conservative Saudi
    monarchy, the hijackers said they had chosen to come to Iraq
    because "the Iraqi people are under embargo and because we
    trust the Iraqis and they will not betray us".

    The hijacking occurred during a feverish period in the
    Middle East after more than two weeks of clashes between
    Israelis and Palestinians in which at least 100 people, almost
    all Arabs, have been killed.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register