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| Iraq |
| Iraq detains suspect in Saudi plane hijacking |
| 2009-01-10 |
| Iraqi authorities are holding a suspect in the October 2000 hijacking of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Jeddah to London, the interior ministry said on Saturday. Former Saudi military officer Ayesh Ali Hussein al-Harbi was arrested in Iraq last month, a ministry statement, said without specifying where or how. Two hijackers forced the Saudi Boeing 777 carrying more than 100 passengers and crew to fly to Baghdad before surrendering peacefully. The interior ministry did not specify whether Harbi was suspected of being one of the hijackers or of playing some other role in the plot. "During the investigation it was discovered that he entered Iraq in 2000 after his involvement in the hijacking of a Saudi plane, which was flying from Jeddah airport to Britain before landing at Baghdad airport," its statement said. The ministry said Harbi was also suspected of belonging to a three-member gang that carried out a string of murders of Iraqis, including police and military officials. It did not say whether he would face prosecution in Iraq or be extradited to Saudi Arabia. |
| Posted by:tipper |