go through Gordon Corella and Ido Walker, bbc news
ReutersPassengers and crew who were taken hostage after a British Airways flight landed in 1990 are suing the airline and the British government for “willfully endangering” them.
They claimed that BA and the government knew that Iraq had invaded Kuwait before their plane landed in Kuwait.
The 367 passengers and crew of flight BA 149 were taken hostage, some of whom were tortured, severely sexually assaulted and left in a state of near starvation.
The claimants argued that personnel on board were put at risk as part of an intelligence-gathering mission, an allegation that has been denied for 30 years.
94 people, whether passengers or crew on Flight 149 or BA crew members already in Kuwait awaiting deployment, are behind the civil action alleging negligence and contributory misconduct by the British government and BA in their official duties crime.
It’s the latest step in a long-running fight to understand what happened during Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
On the evening of August 1, 1990, British Airways Flight 149 took off from London Heathrow Airport, planning to stop in Kuwait and fly to Malaysia.
Iraqi troops had massed at the Kuwaiti border before invading Kuwait that night. However, the flight was not diverted to Kuwait.
The claimant alleges that no other airline allowed its aircraft to land after the invasion began. On the morning of August 2, when Flight 149 landed, Iraqi forces took control of the airport and a rocket attack occurred near the airport.
The plane has been evacuated and cannot take off. The people on board were taken hostage.
Some were quickly released, but others were mistreated and used as human shields at key facilities by Iraq to prevent Western forces from bombing them.
Charlie Kristiansson, a cabin crew member on the flight, told the BBC he was raped and used as a human shield by Iraqi troops.
“I was taken to Shuwaikh port along with other unmarried crew members and passengers. [in Kuwait City]. I was held in a guarded bungalow for about two months,” he said.
“Trenches were dug in the garden. We were told that if the British and Americans launched a ground attack, we would be killed and thrown into the ditch.
“During that time, I was taken to a deserted place in Kuwait City. At gunpoint, I was forced to climb a tower and was raped. Then I jumped from the tower.
Five months later, the hostages were released. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit say they all suffered serious physical and mental injuries, the consequences of which are still being felt today.
Christiansen said he was forced to leave the UK to recover from the trauma. He now lives in Luxembourg.
He said he hoped the case would bring justice to him and other hostages and put an end to the “lies and deceit” of the British government and BA.
The claim centers on the fact that the UK government and British Airways received a series of warnings overnight but failed to act.
One of the reasons for this is said to be the government’s desire to send a special forces unit capable of conducting reconnaissance within the country.
Stephen Davis has written a book about the incident and says he has interviewed members of the team anonymously.
He believes the authorities did not expect the airport to fall into the hands of Iraqi invading forces so quickly and the purpose was to get the men off the plane before it headed to its next destination.
The British Airways director of cabin services on the flight previously told the BBC that he was greeted at the door of the plane on arrival in Kuwait by a British man in military uniform.
The man said he had come to meet 10 men who were boarding a flight at Heathrow Airport. They were taken to the front and disembarked, never to be seen again. But by this time, it was too late for the plane to take off.
A British official working at the Kuwaiti embassy at the time previously said he believed there was a “deniable” rush operation without the embassy’s complete knowledge.
Anthony Pace was in charge of political intelligence, a role widely regarded as a front for MI6.
In his first interview with the BBC in 2021, he said: “Despite repeated official denials, I am convinced that the use of military intelligence on British Airways Flight 149 did occur.”
In November 2021, the Department of Foreign Affairs admitted that Congress and the public had been misled for decades about Flight 149.
Newly released documents show that the British ambassador to Kuwait did warn the Foreign Office about the intrusion, but that BA was not informed.
However, then-foreign minister Liz Truss reiterated earlier denials that the flight was used for a covert intelligence mission.
“There must be closure and accountability to remove this shameful stain from the British conscience,” said Matthew Jury of McCue Jury and Partners, the law firm behind the claim.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said the government did not comment on ongoing legal matters. BA did not respond to a request for comment.
