Hijackers Free Hostage but Renew Threat

The hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet, in a long day of conflicting moods, freed one of their 32 hostages Thursday but renewed the threat to kill the rest if the government of Kuwait does not release 17 Shia Muslim prisoners from its jails.

A doctor, gripping the arm of the freed hostage, led him to a delegation of Kuwaiti officials waiting on the steps of the VIP chalet at the Algiers airport Thursday night. The hostage, wearing a long white jellabeh, walked haltingly after his 10-day ordeal. He was identified as Jamal Zaki, a Kuwaiti.

Kuwaiti officials were disappointed by the release of only one hostage because they had expected the hijackers, after two days of negotiations with Algerian officials, to free a second hostage as well. The meager result--plus the renewed threat to kill--made it clear that the crisis, which has already seen the slaying of two passengers by the hijackers, is far from being resolved.

The threat was made earlier in a statement in Arabic that the hijackers allowed a passenger to make to the airport control tower. The passenger, identified as Zayed Ahmed, said: “We say hello to our families. I am well. They ask for the freeing of the 17 prisoners held by the government. If not, they will execute us all.”

Kuwaiti officials, however, have insisted adamantly that they will not give in to the hijackers’ demands. One news report from Kuwait in fact quoted officials as saying that the ruling emir of Kuwait already regards the plane as lost and believes that what is going on in Algiers amounts to no more than a hunt for survivors.

Three members of the Kuwaiti royal family are on the plane.

During the day, the hijackers, in a conciliatory mood, allowed a doctor and two Air Algeria employees aboard the blue-and-white Boeing 747. The workers cleaned the plane and served those aboard hot meals. The doctor, Youssef Mehdi, offered to examine anyone who wanted to see him. An Algerian official said that “the fact that the Algerian authorities have achieved this is a positive step.”

10 See the Doctor

Although most of the hostages had not seen an outsider since the terrorists, believed to be Lebanese Shia Muslims, commandeered the plane on a flight from Bangkok to Kuwait on April 5, only about 10 took the opportunity to meet with the doctor.

Talking with journalists later, Mehdi said he found the condition of these hostages satisfactory. “I saw no sign of any illness that required either hospitalization or major medicines,” he said. He said he had seen no evidence “of bodily violence” but described the hostages as “tired” and “worn” by their trying experience. He said he had ordered some antibiotics, antihistamines and aspirins for those on the plane.

Asked if he could describe the plane and the hijackers inside it, Mehdi replied: “I am a doctor. When I enter a house--and even a plane like this one--I only look at the sick inside it.”

The day began on an almost unreal note as the hijackers, at the request of Algerian authorities, allowed the pilot to move the plane away from the apron near the VIP chalet to the far end of the airfield. The Algerians were welcoming President Kenneth D. Kaunda of Zambia for a brief visit and did not want his arrival marred by the presence of the hapless plane.

Airliner Taxied Back

After Kaunda left Algeria in the afternoon, the hijackers, at the request of Algerian authorities, allowed the pilot to taxi back to the plane’s original parking slot in full view of television cameras and journalists.

Intermittent negotiations went on throughout the day between the hijackers and an Algerian official who boarded the plane several times. A flurry of activity in early evening seemed to indicate that these negotiations were about to produce dramatic results.

Two buses drove near the plane, and staircases were motored to both the front and back doors of the jet. Kuwaiti officials lined up at the VIP chalet, about 400 yards away, as if they were ready to receive some or all of the hostages. An Algerian official climbed the front stairs and entered the plane.

Leaves With No Hostages

When he emerged almost half an hour later, he had no hostages with him. Although the proceedings seemed to presage a major breakthrough, Kuwaiti officials later told journalists that they had expected the release of two hostages.

Negotiations then continued on and off for three hours. At one point, the hijackers said they could not receive the Algerian official because they had not finished their Thursday night sabbath prayers.

A man with a hood, believed tm be one of the hijackers, twice left the plane, walked down the staircase and chatted with a few Algerian journalists allowed to come close to the Boeing 747.

At 10:30 p.m. local time, Zaki emerged from the plane and became the first hostage released at Algiers airport. The terrorists had released the majority of the plane’s more than 100 passengers in its first two forced stops of Mashhad in northeastern Iran and Larnaca in Cyprus. Two passengers were executed by the hijackers in Larnaca.