Furious British hostages who were detained for months after their flight landed in Kuwait during the Gulf War have rejected an apology from the Government which claimed their ordeal was the result of an innocent mistake.

The survivors, who were taken hostage by Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1990, have accused the Government of covering up the military exploitation of a civilian flight being used to smuggle intelligence officers into the country.

Both passengers and crew members who were on the flight recall a mysterious group of men who were whisked off the plane by a British military official as soon as it landed in Kuwait.

The men were not seen again and survivors say it is ‘common knowledge’ these men were military operatives who were being deployed to Kuwait, a claim denied by the Government.

Newly released documents revealed a warning that Iraqi forces had entered Kuwait was not passed to British Airways even though it had a flight heading to the Gulf State.

Flight BA149 with 367 passengers on board landed in Kuwait in the early hours of August 2 1990, and the passengers and crew were detained by the invading Iraqi forces and held hostage for up to five months.

New files released today show a warning that Iraqi forces had entered Kuwait was not passed on to British Airways even though its flight BA149 was already enroute to the Gulf state. Pictured: A media appeal issued at the time directing concerns loved ones to information line

New files released today show a warning that Iraqi forces had entered Kuwait was not passed on to British Airways even though its flight BA149 was already enroute to the Gulf state. Pictured: A media appeal issued at the time directing concerns loved ones to information line

New files released today show a warning that Iraqi forces had entered Kuwait was not passed on to British Airways even though its flight BA149 was already enroute to the Gulf state. Pictured: A media appeal issued at the time directing concerns loved ones to information line

How British Airways crew and passengers were taken hostage 

May 1990: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein described oil overproduction by Kuwait as economic warfare against Iraq.

July 1990: Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumaila, an Iraqi oil field and threatens military action in response. On July 22, Iraq begins sending troops to the Kuwaiti border.

August 1, 1990: Flight BA149 departs Heathrow at 6pm GMT after being delayed for several hours. The flight was not cancelled despite  media reports of the worsening political situation.

Shortly after the flight departed, the crew onboard BA149 communicated with other flights that had left Kuwait and were told the situation was normal.

That same day, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.

August 2, 1990: BA149 landed shortly after 1am GMT which was 4am local time.

The passengers disembarked for what should have been an hour wait while the plane refuelled.

At the point of its landing, all other scheduled flights by other airlines had been cancelled or diverted for several hours already at this point.

At 4.30am GMT, both the crew and passengers who had been on board Flight 149 were escorted from the terminal by the Iraqi army and transported by bus to the airport’s onsite hotel.

August 3, 1990: it was reported that all of the 367 passengers and 18 crewmembers from BA 149 were safe and well.

Different groups of detainees were released at various stages, often dependent upon their nationality, but also including criteria such as ill health and the body of one individual who had died during captivity.

While some passengers were detained only for a few weeks, others were detained for up to five months, often in poor conditions.

December 1990: The last of the remaining hostages were released by Iraq 

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Foreign Secretary Liz Truss issued an apology on behalf of the Government today and described the failure to communicate the dangers as ‘unacceptable’.

As part of her written ministerial statement, Ms Truss said files which have been released to the National Archives did not support claims the flight was used as part of a covert military operation.

Ms Truss said the files released today were consistent with a statement by ministers in 2007 that ‘the Government at the time did not attempt in any way to exploit the flight by any means whatever’.

But survivors who were onboard the flight and detained – some for up to five months – have hit out at the statement and said they are still waiting for answers.

BA149 passenger Barry Manners, who was kept hostage by Iraqi soldiers for four-and-a-half months, said he did not accept the Government’s apology.

He said: ‘It’s a lie. I’m gobsmacked they are still saying this. The evidence must be so refutable.

‘If the Government was using British Airways as de facto military transport, come clean and admit it.

‘I live in the real world, I’m not a snowflake – if they pulled us into a room and said: “Terribly sorry, we had to do it, have a year off paying income tax and here’s a gold card for British Airways, keep your gob shut”, I would say “fair enough”.

‘But when people lie to me, then I get upset. So, no, I don’t accept the apology. It’s a fudge.’

Mr Manners, a 54-year-old retired business and beach cleaner in Botany Bay, Kent, added: ‘I am a paid-up member of the Conservative Party … I believe in democracy and rule of law.

‘It’s confirmed what so many people have said about this Government, and perhaps all governments, that they lie.

‘This seems to me like it’s being presented as an unfortunate cock-up.’

He also dismissed Ms Truss’s statement denying the handful of people who boarded the doomed flight late were special forces.

He said: ‘Who on earth were they, then? Members of a rugby team?

‘These were serious guys, you only had to look at them.

‘I’m absolutely gobsmacked. I know what I saw going on with that plane. I know they were soldiers.’

Meanwhile Clive Earthy, who was the cabin services officer in charge of BA149, echoed Mr Manners’ comments.

He remembers 10 men onboard who were met by a military official when the plane landed in Kuwait and were taken off, never to be seen again.

BA hostage Barry Manners (pictured in 1990 when he was 24) has said he was left gobsmacked by the Government's apology issued today and accused them of lying about his ordeal

BA hostage Barry Manners (pictured in 1990 when he was 24) has said he was left gobsmacked by the Government's apology issued today and accused them of lying about his ordeal

BA hostage Barry Manners (pictured in 1990 when he was 24) has said he was left gobsmacked by the Government’s apology issued today and accused them of lying about his ordeal

BA149 passenger Barry Manners, who was kept hostage by Iraqi soldiers for four-and-a-half months, said he did not accept the Government's apology

BA149 passenger Barry Manners, who was kept hostage by Iraqi soldiers for four-and-a-half months, said he did not accept the Government's apology

BA149 passenger Barry Manners, who was kept hostage by Iraqi soldiers for four-and-a-half months, said he did not accept the Government’s apology

He told MailOnline it wasn’t until three months later, while he was still detained at a ‘nasty installation’ in northern Iraq, that he learned they were military operatives.

‘Was I upset? Absolutely. Because the priority was these men who were not fighters, they were observers, they were seen as a priority over 380 men, women and children.

‘There’s been so many people since then who have looked further into this that it is now common knowledge. But the Government are still not acknowledging that.

‘All the minister is saying is that they are sorry that they did c*** up.

‘All they are saying is that they did know the flight was going into a warzone and that they had time to divert the plane.

‘Their apology does not go far enough to acknowledge what actually happened.’

Mr Earthy says that the result of Operation Sandcastle – the Government’s 1993 inquiry into the matter – are due to be released to the National Archives next month and that maybe then, the survivors will get the answers they are seeking.

He added: ‘I can tell you now that all my crew and my passengers will be interested in the publication of that inquiry.

‘We have all been party to this knowledge for the last 30 years and no one has listened to us – now we are still waiting for answers.’

Mr Earthy says his family was broken up by what happened and, at times, thought he was dead.

‘Nobody could talk to home so my family were thinking I was dead. It’s left its scars, even to this day. My family are still here because I came home, thank god, but we have scars and getting answers would go some way to healing those scars.’

The flight left Heathrow in August 1990 was scheduled to stop at Kuwait International airport for refuelling before it continued to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

The passengers and crew onboard BA's flight 149 were taken hostage once the plane landed at Kuwait International airport and the plane itself was subsequently destroyed (pictured)

The passengers and crew onboard BA's flight 149 were taken hostage once the plane landed at Kuwait International airport and the plane itself was subsequently destroyed (pictured)

The passengers and crew onboard BA’s flight 149 were taken hostage once the plane landed at Kuwait International airport and the plane itself was subsequently destroyed (pictured)

Prior to the plane landing in Kuwait, Iraqi forces had launched a full-scale invasion in the early hours of August 2.

Within hours, the Iraqi army had taken control of the airport and, as a result, when the flight landed, its crew and passengers were immediately taken hostage and detained at nearby hotels. The plane itself was destroyed.

The hostages were used as a human shield by Saddam Hussein who thought their detention meant coalition troops would not carry out offensive missions against the sites where they were held.

Many of the detainees report witnessing atrocities that have left them with post-traumatic stress disorder which they continue to struggle with today.

There has long been speculation that the flight was allowed to continue to Kuwait, even though other flights were being diverted, because it was being used to carry a group of Special Forces into the country.

Anthony Paice, a former member of the British intelligence community working in Kuwait at the time previously told the BBC he is ‘the military intelligence exploitation of British Airways flight 149 did take place’.

Meanwhile cabin crew member Clive Earthy remembered seeing a military official come aboard and greet 10 men when the plane landed. He said the men disembarked in Kuwait and were never seen again.

Author and journalist Stephen Davies penned Operation Trojan Horse in which he says he has spoken with members of the team and believes BA knew about the operation.

But, in her statement, Ms Truss said the files released today were consistent with a statement by ministers in 2007 that ‘the Government at the time did not attempt in any way to exploit the flight by any means whatever’.

Source: Daily Mail

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