Sunday
31 Dec 2006
Hijacking of Indian Air 814: Anniversary of Freedom
By Annie Jacobsen in category Indian Air: Flight 814
Happy New Year! All around the globe, people celebrate New Year’s Eve six billion different ways. But for American Dr. Jeanne Moore, this night — for the rest of her life — is a night to celebrate freedom. Seven New Year’s Eves ago today, Dr. Moore was released from captivity by Islamic Terrorists. It was December 31, 1999. After eight days held hostage in the belly of an airplane, Dr. Moore stepped down from Indian Air 814 and onto the chilly tarmac at Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan. Here’s what freedom looked like to her then. Those men in the pick-up trucks — sporting turbans, beards, and heavy weapons — are Taliban (photo: TerrorismFiles.org).
Jeanne Moore is a sixty-year old mother and grandmother, a psychotherapist from central California with a joyful disposition and an indomitable spirit. A little over seven years ago she was enjoying a long overdue vacation — flying from Katmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India — when her flight was hijacked by five, armed and grenade-wielding terrorists. It was the last Christmas Eve of the twentieth century. The hijacking of Indian Air 814 was the only millennium terrorist plot that came to fruition.
The hijackers ordered the plane to be flown across the Middle East while they stabbed non-compliant passengers and hunted for jet fuel. One first class passenger, Rupin Katyal, — a young Indian man on his honeymoon — was stabbed so violently, his head is said to have separated from his body.
The Airbus 300 made harrowing, emergency landings in India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates where Rupin Katyal’s body was eventually dumped on the tarmac. Finally, the plane was flown to Afghanistan. There, a little-known ruling religious militia called the Taliban arranged a hostage-for-prisoner exchange. Three convicted terrorists were sprung from Indian jails and escorted to Afghanistan by Indian officials. On the last night of the millennium, Dr. Jeanne Moore and her fellow airplane passengers were released from captivity in that sinister exchange.
After her return to American soil, Dr. Moore spoke to Barbara Walters about the hijacking. Then she got quiet. In the years that have passed, most notably in the years after 9/11, Dr. Moore has watched terror events unfold around the world with a close eye. In particular, she’s followed news about what happened to the three convicted terrorists for whom she and the others were exchanged.
Here’s how the Indian Government profiled the terrorists after their release:
Mohammad (ie: Maulana) Masood Azhar (Pakistani): The secretary-general of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, arrested on February 11, 1994. Azhar was the ideologue of the Harkat ul-Ansar, a group on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar (Indian National): Chief of the Al-Umar Mujahideen terrorist organization. He has been charged with executing a large number of men, women and children in cold blood.
Ahmed Omar Sayed Sheikh (Pakistani): The 28 year-old Harkut-ul-Ansar militant is a British national of Pakistani origin. He masterminded the kidnapping of three Britons and an American during September-October 1994.
Since their release, the terrorists’ rap sheets have expanded. After being released from prison, Omar Sheikh, went to Pakistan where he masterminded the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl. Sheikh is also believed to have been the ‘paymaster for the hijackers‘ of 9/11. Maulana Masood Azhar has been tied to the London Planes Plot as well as two, deadly terror attacks inside India.
In a series of interviews over the past year, Dr. Moore has shared with me her thoughts and understanding on what it means when governments negotiate with terrorists. She understands such things first hand.
Stay tuned for more on Dr. Moore and the hijacking of Indian Air 814 at The Aviation Nation.