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LONDON: Passengers and crew members of a British Airways flight who have been taken hostage in Kuwait in 1990 are aspiring to take authorized motion in opposition to the British authorities and the airline, a legislation agency mentioned Tuesday. Passengers on BA flight 149 have been taken off the Kuala Lumpur-bound aircraft when it landed in Kuwait on Aug 2 that 12 months, hours after Saddam Hussein’s troops swept in.
A number of the 367 passengers and crew spent greater than 4 months in captivity, together with as human shields in opposition to Western assaults by the hands of the Iraqi dictator. Representing a bunch of former BA workers and passengers who have been aboard the flight, McCue Jury & Companions mentioned “the victims are taking authorized motion to make sure the reality is absolutely disclosed, these accountable are held to account, and due compensation is paid”.
The legislation agency mentioned that “what the hostages now know is that proof exists” that the UK authorities and the airline “knew the invasion had already begun” however allowed the flight to land anyway. And that they did so as a result of “the flight was getting used to insert a black ops crew of former particular forces and safety providers” into Kuwait, the agency added.
In accordance with the legislation agency, the declare is at present on the pre-action stage and so they anticipate to file the case early subsequent 12 months with the Excessive Court docket in London. The agency is interesting for extra passengers or crew of the BA flight to affix the authorized motion. It mentioned every of the hostages “could declare an estimated common of £170,000 ($213,000) every in damages”.
“We weren’t handled as residents, however as expendable pawns for industrial and political acquire,” Barry Manners, who was on the flight and is collaborating within the declare, mentioned. “A victory over years of canopy up and bare-faced denial will assist restore belief in our political and judicial course of,” he added. Recordsdata launched in Nov 2021 revealed that the UK ambassador to Kuwait knowledgeable London about reviews of an Iraqi incursion earlier than the flight landed however the message was not circulated to BA.
There have additionally been claims, denied by the federal government, that London knowingly put passengers in danger through the use of the flight to deploy undercover operatives and delayed take-off to permit them to board. A UK authorities spokesperson mentioned “duty for these occasions and the mistreatment of these passengers and crew lies solely with the federal government of Iraq on the time”. British Airways has at all times denied accusations of negligence, conspiracy and a cover-up. A BA spokesperson mentioned the federal government data launched in 2021 “confirmed British Airways was not warned in regards to the invasion”. – AFP
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