Hostages' reunion joy at Heathrow

LONDON, England -- Passengers on board the Saudi Airlines plane that was hijacked and flown to Iraq have been reunited with relatives in London.

Crying relatives hugged the former hostages as others waved champagne bottles and headed out of London Heathrow's arrivals lounge.

Of the 88 passengers who were on board the Saudi Boeing 777 when it was hijacked and diverted to Baghdad before being allowed to return to Riyadh, 81 made the flight to London -- the plane's original destination.

On board were all 40 Britons caught up in the drama as well as passengers from France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Oman, South Africa Yemen and a Palestinian.

Six Saudi passengers and the sole American hostage elected to stay in Riyadh.

The aircraft was taken over on Saturday by two Saudi nationals who claimed they were armed with explosives and who threatened to blow up the plane.

A stand-off on the runway at Saddam International Airport ended peacefully after seven-and-a-half hours when all the hostages were released unharmed and the hijackers arrested.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook welcomed the release of the hostages but refused to thank the Iraqis for helping to end the crisis.

But passengers on board the hijacked plane were full of praise for Iraqi efforts and their hospitality after the hijackers surrendered.

Neil Broomfield, 24, from Hampshire, said "We knew something was going wrong because we started circling and it got dark very quickly, but we didn't know what had happened until an hour after we had landed in Baghdad."

"There was no reason for us to worry while we were in Iraq because of the way we were treated. They basically treated us like royalty - no faults at all."

QUOTE "There was no reason for us to worry while we were in Iraq... they basically treated us like royalty." Passenger Neil Broomfield

Another passenger Ghulam Qureshi, who had been on a pilgrimage with his wife Tyab, said: "My wife was scared. When she realised what was happening she was shocked and crying."

Passengers and relatives were reunited in a private room at Heathrow rather than in front of waiting photographers and TV crews in the arrivals lounge.

Philip Griffin, Saudi Arabian Airlines' station manager at Heathrow, said: "It was tremendous to see the emotion and joy as friends and relatives were reunited. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of celebrating later."

Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Naif said on Monday that his country would do all in its power to secure the extradition of the hijackers.

His government has identified them as Faisal al-Biloowi and Ayish al-Faridi. Hijacking carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

It is unclear whether Iraq will extradite them. The countries have had no relations since Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, but a pre-Gulf War treaty provides for extradition.

Senior Iraqi security officials said the Saudi hijackers had not requested asylum, but that they were protesting against what they said was repression in Saudi Arabia.

Officials said they specifically criticised the human rights group, Amnesty International, for "covering up" human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.

"We are ordinary citizens and we demand what's rightful for the people... public services, health, education, and all the public services that the Saudi people are robbed of," one of them said.

The men also said their actions had been prompted in part by the recent violence in the Middle East.

One said: "You can say that our Arabic and Muslim emotions were stirred after seeing our brothers in Palestine facing Israeli weapons with stones.

"We performed our operation with a belief in justice, freedom and equality... the basis of the human rights bill."

The two hijackers are being held by the Iraqi authorities.

Saudi hijackers detained in Iraq
October 15, 2000
Hijack hostages freed unharmed in Iraq
October 14, 2000
Hijackers holding 112 hostages seek asylum in Iraq
October 14, 2000

Saudi Arabian Airlines
Heathrow Airport

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