Hijackers seek asylum

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 11

Hijackers seek asylum

NZPA-AP Bagdad A young, unarmed Iranian couple yesterday sought political asylum after forcing an Iran Air aircraft to fly to Iraq, where they surrendered and freed their 204 captives. Iran and Iraq have been at war for almost four years. Iran accused Iraq of sending warplanes to force the hijacked plane to land in Iraq, a charge an Iraqi official called “ridiculous.” The official said the hijackers would be granted asylum. The male hijacker, who identified himself only by his first name — Behrouz — told reporters at Bagdad airport that he and his girlfriend, identified as

Fereshteh, were “planning to request political asylum in Iraq, because this is the only country where we can live freely.” Behrouz said he and Fereshteh “commandeered the plane 10 minutes after it took off from Shiraz,” a city in southern Iran, on a flight to Teheran, the Iranian capital.

“We did not use any weapons to hijack the plane. We only told the captain that we had explosives . . .

And that we would set them off if he did not proceed to Iraq,” Behrouz said.

“It was an easy job. We didn’t have a single problem,” Behrouz said. “The captain and the crew and the passengers were very

sympathetic. They congratulated us when we landed in Iraq.” Reporters were not allowed to speak to the freed passengers and crew. A senior official for the Iraqi Information Ministry said the hijackers would “certainly be granted political asylum” and the passengers and crew would be free to stay in Iraq or leave. Behrouz said the pilot “received Iraqi approval to land in Iraq while we were in Kuwaiti air space and we then proceeded directly to Iraq.” The aircraft was denied landing permission in Kuwait. There was no explanation why it went to Kuwait from Iran before landing in Iraq.