Armed man hijacks Yemeni plane carying U.S. ambassador

ADEN, Yemen – An armed man who wanted to show support for Saddam Hussein hijacked a Yemeni plane carrying the U.S. ambassador and 90 other people yesterday and diverted it to neighboring Djibouti, where he was overpowered by the crew.

Passengers, including U.S. Ambassador Barbara Bodine, exited down the plane's emergency chute as the drama ended.

Because of the hijacking, Bodine missed an appointment with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh at which the deadly terrorist attack on the USS Cole and increased security cooperation were expected to have been discussed. Bodine, who was accompanied by other embassy staff, flew from Djibouti back to the Yemeni capital, San'a, later yesterday. Aides said she would not comment on the hijacking.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said "really terrific action" on the part of the crew, airline officials and Yemeni authorities helped foil the hijacking. The hijacker, armed with a small handgun and possibly a grenade, was subdued by members of the Boeing 727's seven-person crew.

The man was identified as Mohammed Yehia Ali Sattar, a Yemeni who said he wanted to fly to Baghdad airport, where a series of flights seen as challenges to Iraq's international isolation have landed in recent months, Yemen's state-run Saba news agency said.

Abdulmejid Tarek of the immigration police at Djibouti airport said the hijacker was hospitalized in the Horn of Africa nation across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, apparently with injuries inflicted by his own gun. Tarek had no details.

Acting U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Donna Visocan, contacted in San'a, said the embassy had no information on the fate of the hijacker, his motives or demands. But she said officials heard he had been unaware passengers included U.S. diplomats.