Hijackers are back

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian civil aviation official said on Saturday a Saudi airliner had been hijacked over Egypt and ordered to fly to Damascus.

``Saudi flight 115 from Jeddah to London told the control tower just after leaving Egyptian airspace at 2:55 p.m. (1255 GMT) local time that he was hijacked and that the hijackers demanded that they go to Damascus,'' the official said.

The official said the plane had entered Greek airspace, but that the pilot had radioed the Cairo control tower.

He said radio contact with the plane, a Boeing 777-200, was lost after that.

The Cairo office of Saudi Arabian Airlines had no immediate comment on the news.

The Egyptian official said Cairo had informed the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority of the incident

It's likely that the terrorist act is somehow linked to the Jew-Palestinian conflict detonated recently in Palestinian State. Muslim lunatics around the world announced "Jihad" (wholly war) to Israel and all of its supporters. Most recent victims of the announcement became 17 US Navy sailors who were blown apart in the suicidal attack on USS Cole destroyer resting in the port of Yemen.
Analysts predict more casualties from religious extremists soon.

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The passengers and crew of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight seized by armed men
have been freed, the airline says.


The plane, hijacked en route from Jeddah to London, earlier landed in the
Iraqi capital Baghdad.


All the hijackers have been taken away by the Iraqi authorities.


"It has ended peacefully. The hijackers were arrested and there will
be investigations," an official told reporters at Saddam International
Airport.


They had warned the pilot they were carrying dynamite and had threatened to
blow up the Boeing 777-200 with its 90 passengers and up to 17 crew.


Iraqi television said there were five hijackers - an Ethiopian and four
Saudis - and that they were seeking political asylum.

Worried relatives wait for news at London's Heathrow airport

The passengers included 40 Britons and one American, as well as 15 Saudis, 15
Pakistanis, four South Africans, four Yemenis and two Kenyans.


One report said that a member of the Saudi royal family was among the
passengers.


Saudi Arabia and Iraq broke off relations 10 years ago when Iraq invaded
Kuwait.


Since then, Iraq has angrily attacked Saudi Arabia's rulers for hosting
western warplanes that patrol daily over Iraq.


First alert


The first alert of the hijack came after the pilot of flight SV115 contacted
Egyptian civil aviation officials at 1455 local time (1255 GMT).


The airliner initially flew into Syrian airspace and circled the capital
Damascus. Some reports said it had landed, but it later emerged that the landing
had been aborted at the last moment on the orders of the hijacker.


The plane landed at Baghdad at 1945 local time (1645 GMT).


There are not normally many flight arrivals there because of UN sanctions
against Iraq.


Relatives


Worried relatives and friends of those on board the plane gathered at London
Heathrow's Terminal 3 where the flight had been expected to touch down at 1740
local time (1640GMT).


The helpline number is 0845 6040171


It is the second hijacking in the Gulf in a month.


On 14 September, an Iraqi man hijacked a Qatar Airways plane at knifepoint
and ordered it flown to Saudi Arabia.


The 144 passengers and the crew escaped unharmed when the man surrendered to
Saudi authorities at the city of Hael.


 

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