Word: larnaca
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That operation had been the longest continuous skyjacking in history, a terror-filled 15-day epic that began with the capture of the plane as it neared the gulf and continued during stops at the Iranian city of Mashhad and the Cypriot city of Larnaca before reaching a seven-day standoff in Algiers. For many of the 31 hostages inside the aircraft, the tipoff to approaching | freedom came when the hijackers began systematically wiping overhead compartments and doorways to erase their fingerprints. Then, following a plan apparently worked out in advance with Algerian negotiators, they quietly left the aircraft...
...hijackers' chief demand, the release of 17 pro-Iranian terrorists convicted of taking part in attacks on the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983. But the hijackers' safe passage out of Algeria not only prevents them from being brought to justice for killing two passengers in Larnaca but also frees them to commit terror anew...
...skyjacking had its bizarre moments. To emphasize their willingness to die for their cause, the hijackers told the Larnaca tower at one point that they had donned death shrouds and renamed the jetliner the "Plane of the Great Martyrs." When a controller referred to the craft as "Kuwait 422," a hijacker snapped back, "No! Plane of Martyrs!" Replied the tower: "Sorry, Plane of Martyrs." As the hostages sweltered inside their metal prison, planeloads of European vacationers came and went at the Larnaca field, wind surfers skittered across the sea next to the runway, and curious Cypriot families wandered among...
Authorities at Larnaca Airport initially refused to refuel the jetliner. But after the two hostages were killed and Algeria offered to take the plane, they relented and filled its tanks, allowing the aircraft to leave for Algiers. The standoff continued in Algeria, which helped negotiate the release of 52 American hostages from Iran in 1981. Algerian officials opened talks with the hijackers the day the plane landed. At one point, the jetliner was asked to taxi away from the airport terminal as a security measure while a plane carrying Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda landed. After the African leader departed, Flight...
...speak. Plastic bindings had cut deep into their wrists. Toilets became so fouled that some hostages were sickened; Algiers airport workers were finally allowed to clean up. Ramadan Ali, an engineer who holds dual Egyptian and American citizenship and who was one of the twelve hostages released in Larnaca, told of hiding his U.S. passport in a briefcase. He said a hijacker saw his U.S. driver's license but evidently did not know what...