US ambassador on hijacked Yemeni flight

A Yemeni airlines carrying the US ambassador to Yemen was hijacked on Tuesday and flown to Djibouti where the incident was resolved.

The 727 was on a domestic flight, carrying 91 passengers and 10 crew members, when it was hijacked by a pro-Iraqi Yemeni national. The plane landed in Djibouti airport at 12:15 p.m. local time (09:15 GMT), a local journalist told IRIN.

Shortly after landing, the Djibouti authorities started negotiating with the hijacker, and persuaded him to release the passengers, including the US ambassador. In exchange the hijacker demanded fuel to fly to Baghdad, Iraq, Djibouti sources told IRIN. The hijacker was described as a Yemeni national armed with a “pen-shaped pistol”.

Djibouti Minster of Interior Abdullah Abdullahi Miguil told the press that during negotiations with the hijacker, crew members overpowered him. A flight engineer was slightly injured during the scuffle, he added. The minister said the hijacker was handed over to the Djibouti security forces and was being interrogated. The authorities have not released the identity of the hijacker. It is also not clear whether the hijacker was aware that the American ambassador was on board the flight, Djibouti sources told IRIN.