Kuwait hostages threaten Government and British Airways with legal action

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

British Airways passengers and crew taken hostage in Kuwait are threatening to take legal action against the UK Government and the airline, after being “treated as disposable collateral”, according to a law firm.

They were on board British Airways Flight 149 which landed at Kuwait International Airport in the early hours of August 2 1990, as Iraqi armed forces were invading.

More than 300 people on board were detained by Iraqi troops, marking the start of an ordeal lasting almost five months, which included rape, starvation, torture, mock executions and being used by the former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, as human shields against western attacks.

Law firm McCue Jury and Partners said it is representing 95 claimants in relation to the case, who are seeking “compensation for their injuries, pain and suffering”.

They all “suffered severe physical and psychiatric harm during their ordeal”, according to the firm, which has written to the Government and British Airways saying it may bring legal action

The Government has previously said responsibility for what happened “lies entirely” with the Iraqi authorities at the time, while British Airways has said it was “not warned about the invasion”.

Documents released in November 2021 showed the Foreign Office was told by the British ambassador in Kuwait that Iraqi forces had crossed the border an hour before the flight landed.

The information was never passed to British Airways, which was unable to take action to divert the flight, according to the Foreign Office files released to the National Archives.

There have been claims that a group of about 10 men who were the first to disembark when the plane landed were special forces troops, but this has always been denied by the Government.

McCue Jury and Partners said the Government and British Airways “knew the invasion had taken place while the plane was still in the air” but “did nothing to divert it safely”.

It added that “evidence demonstrates” the flight was used to “secretly transport a special ops team for immediate and covert deployment to the battlefield”.

One of the passengers in the claim is Barry Manners, who was a 24-year-old businessman at the time of the flight.

He said: “We were not treated as citizens but as expendable pawns for commercial and political gain.

“A victory over years of cover-up and bare-faced denial will help restore trust in our political and judicial process.”

Matthew Jury, managing partner of McCue Jury and Partners, said: “The lives and safety of innocent civilians were put at risk by the British government and British Airways for the sake of an off-the-books military operation.

“Both have, we believe, concealed and denied the truth for more than 30 years.

“The victims and survivors of Flight BA149 deserve justice for being treated as disposable collateral.

“HMG and BA watched on as children were paraded as human shields by a ruthless dictator, yet they did and admitted nothing.

“There must be closure and accountability to erase this shameful stain on the UK’s conscience.”

The Government and British Airways were approached for a comment.