UK didn’t warn ‘human shield’ British Airways flight of 1990 Kuwait invasion, new files reveal
- As a result, more than 300 people headed from London to Kuala Lumpur were held hostage for months after their plane landed to refuel in the Persian Gulf
- Saddam Hussein had them sent to potential Western targets across Iraq, where they witnessed atrocities and were subjected to abuse, including mock executions
More than 300 passengers and crew on a British Airways flight could have been spared a months-long hostage ordeal in 1990 in Kuwait if Britain’s Foreign Office had informed the airline that Iraq had commenced its invasion of its oil-rich Persian Gulf neighbour, newly disclosed files showed Tuesday.
According to the files, the British ambassador to Kuwait warned the Foreign Office that Iraqi forces had crossed the border an hour before Flight BA149 from London to Kuala Lumpur touched down in Kuwait for refuelling in the early hours of August 2, 1990.
That information was passed to other parts of government and to the intelligence services, but not to the airline, which was thereby not able to divert the flight.
Within hours of landing, passengers and crew had been detained by Iraqi troops.
Many then spent nearly five months used by Iraq’s then dictator Saddam Hussein as “human shields” in an attempt to thwart a retaliation from Western forces – they were dispersed to potential targets across Iraq and some suffered post-traumatic stress after being subjected to abuse, including mock executions, and witnessing atrocities.
