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Yemenia Hijacker Arrives In Sanaa As Security Officials Arrested
SANAA, Jan 25 (News Agencies) - The Yemeni man who tried to abduct a U.S. ambassador to Baghdad by hijacking a domestic Yemenia flight this week arrived Thursday in Sanaa aboard a Yemeni air force plane, official sources said.
"Mohamed Yayah Ali Sattir arrived aboard a Yemeni military plane and was immediately handed over to the authorities to be interrogated", said a Yemeni official who wished to remain anonymous.
"After the plane landed at a military base near Sanaa, the hijacker was escorted to the security headquarters in the Yemeni capital", he added.
The hijacker is accused of commandeering a domestic Yemenia airlines flight on Tuesday in an attempt to divert it to Baghdad with the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, and 90 other passengers on board.
The pilot convinced Sattir, 30, that the Boeing 727 needed to refuel in Djibouti, and the crew overpowered the hijacker once the plane landed and all of the passengers had exited the aircraft using emergency slides.
In 1998, Yemen stiffened penalties for kidnapping. Those found guilty can face the death penalty, particularly if hostages are hurt or killed.
A Yemeni official said Wednesday that "an investigation commission consisting of Yemen's Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Arab and security chief Ghaleb Mothar had been created to interrogate Sattar upon his return."
As a result of the hijacking, six Yemeni security officials at Sanaa's airport have been arrested as part of the investigation into the hijacking, police said Thursday.
The investigation was focusing on how Sattar managed to board the Yemenia Boeing 727 armed with a pen-pistol he used to hijack the plane, police said.
Police, revealing that the Yemeni hijacker had closed his bank account on January 8th, also quizzed two Sanaa municipality workers.
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