Cover Story: Hijacking; ... in Dubai, authorities blow hot and cold...

Officials at Dubai International Airport knew they had a busy night ahead on Christmas eve. Between midnight December 24 and 6 a.m. December 25 no less than 57 international flights were scheduled to land at the airport, one of the busiest in the region. IC 814 was not one of them.

But around midnight on December 24, the hijacked Indian Airlines Airbus, already denied permission to land in Kabul, crossed the Afghanistan skies and headed westwards. An appeal to the authorities in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, to allow the flight to land there was similarly turned down. As the aircraft then turned and headed towards Dubai, it was left to K.C. Singh, Indian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to ensure that request for permission to land was not rejected again. It wasn't an easy task considering that the tiny gulf state has been consistent in its stand of not allowing hijacked aircraft to land in its territory. Authorities in Dubai had meanwhile decided to prevent the plane from landing at Dubai International. "When it became clear that the aircraft wanted to land in Dubai, we positioned buses, coaches and tractors on standby, ready to block the runways and prevent the aircraft from landing here," said an airport official. Singh's problems were compounded by the fact that in the holy month of Ramzan it was a difficult task even to locate members of the ruling family, without whose concurrence major decisions are rarely taken in the gulf.

Sharad yadav receiving passengers released in Dubai

Singh was lucky on both counts. While he was able to establish contact with General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai and the UAE's defence minister, help also came from some unexpected quarters: US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, responding to a request from Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, directed a top US security expert to speak to heads of American missions in Saudi Arabia, UAE and other gulf states to facilitate the landing of the aircraft in one of the airports in the UAE.

PREVIOUS HOSTAGE CRISES
HISTORY SHEET

MUNICH, 1972. The Olympics are thrown awry when Black September, a Palestinian group, attacks the Israeli section of the Games Village. It kills two and seizes nine athletes. In a rescue mission all Israeli athletes die; so do five terrorists.

ENTEBBE, 1976
Air France plane hijacked to this Ugandan city, 105 Jews held hostage. Israelis launch surprise commando raid and rescue passengers with minimal casualties.

TEHERAN, 1979-80
Angry at the US hosting their ex-shah, Iranian students hold the American embassy captive for 444 days. Rescue mission fails.

BEIRUT, 1985
TWA flight hijacked by zealots who want Shiite prisoners freed. US President Ronald Reagan talks tough, says no deal. Eventually 30 prisoners are freed. US orders reprisal bombings.

LIMA, 1997
Japanese embassy in the Peruvian capital held hostage by Tupac Amaru leftist terror group. Hostages include Lima's elite. Protracted give and take process.

That had the desired effect. More than nine hours after it was taken over by hijackers, IC 814 was allowed to land at the Al Minhad Air Force base, 40 miles from Dubai. On hand to receive the plane were Dubai's crown prince and Chief of the Federal Forces Lt-General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed El Nahiyan. "We allowed it to land for humanitarian reasons, but we are not interested in allowing them to stay for a long time," Nahiyan said. It was the same kind of tough talk that also saw the hijackers release 27 passengers in Dubai. "The rulers here bluntly told the hijackers that if they wanted the plane to be refuelled, they must release women, the sick and the elderly," said an Indian diplomat.

On December 25 Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav flew to Dubai on a double mission -- to personally bring back the released passengers and to convey Delhi's gratitude to the UAE Government for securing the release of the 27 passengers. The minister, travelling to foreign shores for the first time ever, could not hide his rustic exuberance. After meeting the released passengers, he wanted to announce a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of Rupin Katyal, the lone passenger killed but was restrained by embassy officials.

SECONDS FROM DEATH

Satnam Singh, 32, was stab-bed by the hijackers. With wife Neeru and year-old daughter Simranjit, he was fre-ed in Dubai.
"I stuck out my tongue and played dead."
"I didn't know what kind of negotiations were taking place in the cockpit. But after two hours the plane landed at some place (Amritsar). It seemed the hijackers were asking for fuel. Then as the plane was taking off, one of them came to me, tied my hands and forced me to the front of the aircraft. It was tense as I walked down the aisle. From the cockpit a voice came saying 'kill him'. Suddenly somebody grabbed my hair and jabbed me repeatedly (seven times) with a knife. I bled profusely, pretending to be dead by sticking out my tongue."

Delhi's gratitude to the UAE notwithstanding, there is a feeling in some official circles that the Dubai authorities could have done more. Shortly after midnight on December 24, an IL 76 aircraft took off from Amritsar. On board was a crack commando unit of the National Security Guard. Its mission: to storm IC 814 and rescue the hostages. An hour away from Dubai, the pilot of the IL 76 turned back after being informed that the sole runway at Dubai airport had been closed. Had the airport remained open, perhaps the passengers aboard IC 814 may not have had to endure their week-long ordeal in Kandahar.

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