US diplomat safe after Yemen hijack

The US ambassador to Yemen was among 91 passengers unharmed after a hijacker on an internal flight from the capital San'a to Taiz was overpowered.

The hijacker, who said he was a supporter of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was held by the flight crew after the plane was diverted to Djibouti.

We persuaded him with difficulty to land in Djibouti to refuel...once there, I managed to let most of the passengers disembark

Amer Anis, pilot

Most of the passengers, including US envoy Barbara Bodine, disembarked safely through the emergency exit.

The hijacker had demanded that the aircraft be flown to Baghdad, and had threatened to blow up the plane with a suitcase packed with explosives.

Pilot Amer Anis, said: "We persuaded him with difficulty to land in Djibouti to refuel. Once there, I managed to let most of the passengers disembark."

Struggle

The hijacker, sitting in the first class section, commandeered the plane about 10 minutes into the flight. The aircraft then circled for about an hour before heading to Djibouti.

The hijacker claimed allegiance to Saddam Hussein

According to an airport official, the crew then overpowered the man, who was armed with a pistol.

Two shots were fired during a struggle, which left the flight engineer with an injured hand.

The passengers also included the US military and political attaches at the Sana'a embassy, and a protocol official from the office of Yemeni President Abdullah Saleh.

The officials were travelling to Taiz to join US Army General Tommy Franks, who was due to hold talks with President Saleh on military co-operation and the ongoing investigation into the bombing of a US destroyer in Yemen last year.