Qatar Plane Flies to Amman After Hijack Ends
September 16, 2000 - 0:0
AMMAN A Qatar Airways plane landed in Amman early on Friday after it was hijacked by an Iraqi wielding a sharp object and diverted to Saudi Arabia, where the hijacker surrendered.
The airbus A300 with 144 people on board was hijacked on Thursday on a regular flight from Doha, Qatar, to the Jordanian capital.
All 133 passengers and 11 crew were unhurt.
The hijacker, who entered the cockpit threatening to set off a bomb, asked the captain to divert the plane to Saudi Arabia where it landed at Ha'il Airport, passengers said.
Some passengers said the hijacker was wielding a knife while others said he was carrying a piece of a broken mirror.
The official Qatar News Agency (QNA) said the hijacker, identified as Adel Fahd Jahid, was being deported for illegally entering the Persian Gulf Arab state when he commandeered the plane.
Jahid, who has been returned to Qatar, told QNA he acted out of fear that he would be detained in Jordan and handed over to Iraq, which he had left to seek asylum abroad.
(Reuter)
The airbus A300 with 144 people on board was hijacked on Thursday on a regular flight from Doha, Qatar, to the Jordanian capital.
All 133 passengers and 11 crew were unhurt.
The hijacker, who entered the cockpit threatening to set off a bomb, asked the captain to divert the plane to Saudi Arabia where it landed at Ha'il Airport, passengers said.
Some passengers said the hijacker was wielding a knife while others said he was carrying a piece of a broken mirror.
The official Qatar News Agency (QNA) said the hijacker, identified as Adel Fahd Jahid, was being deported for illegally entering the Persian Gulf Arab state when he commandeered the plane.
Jahid, who has been returned to Qatar, told QNA he acted out of fear that he would be detained in Jordan and handed over to Iraq, which he had left to seek asylum abroad.
(Reuter)