Saudi plane's passengers praise Iraqi authorities

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 15. With 40 Britons on board the London-bound Saudi Arabian Airlines' flight which was hijacked to Baghdad there was palpable relief here this morning that the crisis had ended so swiftly and without loss of life.

An emotional and warm welcome awaited the passengers on their return to London this evening after a harrowing experience.

On Saturday when the news broke the hijack was sought to be linked to the Middle-East crisis and there was fear that it could be a long drawn out affair.

The fact that it had landed in Baghdad fueled the anti-Saddam sentiment, though nobody was able explain how he stood to gain by it.

The mood changed today however as passengers in media interviews praised the Iraqi authorities for the way they handled the crisis and the courtesy they showed towards the hostages.

The Sky TV replayed the Baghdad TV news bulletin assuring the hijack victims that their safety ``concerns us as if they were Iraqi citizens.''

Passengers were also impressed by the airlines' crew who they said remained unruffled and did not allow panic to spread.

Aviation experts recalled that only a month ago the Saudi Arabian Airlines had organised a crisis management course for its staff which, The Independent on Sunday noted, ``epitomised the airline's pride in being at the forefront of air safety.''

At Heathrow on Saturday however there was some bitterness as anxious relatives of the hijack victims complained that the airline was not releasing the list of passengers and instead insisting that if it was given specific names to confirm it would do so.

There was some panic when there was information about the flight until much after its scheduled arrival; and some broke down when it was announced that the plane had been hijacked.

UNI reports:

Iraqi officials earlier said that the hijackers were Saudi Arabian dissidents who had chosen Baghdad as their destination because they believed it was the one country in the region not under U.S. domination.

Saudi Arabia has publicly refused any direct dealing with Baghdad under Mr. Saddam Hussein since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, from where it was driven by an alliance including U.S., British and Saudi forces.

The hijacking comes during a feverish period in west Asia following more than two weeks of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, in which at least 99 people, almost all Arabs, have been killed. The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, said it was unclear whether the hijacking was related to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. ``We may not know that for a while,'' he said during a visit to Denver.

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