Hostages Cheer Iraqi Decision : ‘Old Glory Never Came Down and It Won’t,’ One Boasts

Jubilant American hostages cheered today after Iraqi lawmakers ratified Saddam Hussein’s decision to free all foreigners. Some boasted that the United States had not stooped to bargain with their captors.

“Old Glory never came down, and by God it won’t,” said Hamid Miloudi, 46, an Arab-American from Chattanooga, Tenn. Until Tuesday, he had been one of the Americans who had taken refuge at the besieged U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.

During a rare special session held on the Muslim sabbath, Iraq’s National Assembly endorsed Hussein’s proposal to free all foreigners held or trapped in Iraq and Kuwait.

The more than 8,000 Westerners, East Europeans and Japanese stranded in Iraq and Kuwait will be allowed to leave beginning Saturday, Iraqi officials said. The group includes about 900 Americans.

However, Iraq today barred a British Airways flight from landing in Baghdad to pick up released foreigners.

“Permission has been denied because Iraqi Airways will carry out the airlift,” an Iraqi official told Reuters news service.

A British Airways spokeswoman said the Boeing 767 will be diverted to the Jordanian capital of Amman, where it “will await clarification.”

Also today, U.S. officials said Baghdad has sent 30,000 more troops to the Arabian desert in recent days, indicating that Hussein has no intention of abandoning Kuwait, which he invaded Aug. 2.

Pentagon spokesman Bob Hall said the troop reinforcements brought the Iraqi buildup in Kuwait and southern Iraq to 480,000 soldiers.

Despite the military buildup on both sides of the border, the decision to free the hostages was joyous news for foreigners who had becoming unwilling pawns in Hussein’s strategy to delay war and weaken the international coalition against him.

“This is it! We’re all free!” shouted a group of 50 to 60 American and British hostages and their families gathered in the lobby of the Al-Mansour Melia Hotel in downtown Baghdad.

Government officials said foreigners will be allowed to apply for exit visas immediately. But they cautioned that it will take days to complete the paperwork for thousands of exit visas and arranging flights out.