World

Hijackers Still In Iraq

October 14, 2000 / 11:56 AM EDT / AP

Iraq on Tuesday turned down a Saudi demand to extradite the two hijackers who commandeered a Saudi plane to Baghdad on Saturday.

Interior Minister Mohammed Zemam Abdel-Razzak, responding to remarks by his Saudi counterpart Prince Nayef insisting on the return of the hijackers for trial at home, said that under Arab tradition Iraq cannot surrender the men to Saudi authorities.

In a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency, Abdel-Razzak said any Arab entering Iraq, whether from Saudi Arabia or another Arab country, is welcome and "our people throughout their history have not surrendered an alien."

AP Photo
Passengers from the Saudi
jet are met by loved ones
at the airport in London
on Monday.

The minister said Iraq expected "a word of thanks" from the Saudi authorities for its swift resolution of the crisis.

The Saudi Arabian Airlines plane with 81 passengers was hijacked Saturday moments after takeoff from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. The jet eventually landed in Baghdad, where the two men, identified by Saudi officials as Faisal al-Biloowi and Ayish al-Faridi, surrendered peacefully after hours of negotiations.

They told reporters that they hijacked the plane to demand rights for the Saudi people. "We want to choose our own leaders. The time of kings and monarchies is over," al-Faridi said.

The men also complained about human rights abuses, corruption and unemployment.

Iraqi authorities have been tightlipped on what they intend to do with the hijackers, who said they did not ask for political asylum and intended to go to another country.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia have had no relations since Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, but a pre-Gulf War treaty provides for extradition.

Hijacking carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.