The Guardian

By Hugh Muir

17 October 2006

Airline passengers and crew seized as "human shields" by Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf war yesterday demanded a public inquiry following claims that they were used by the government as cover to smuggle special forces into Kuwait.

Claims made in a BBC documentary suggest officials knew the flight was entering Kuwait in the early hours of Iraq's occupation of the country in August 1990 but it was sent there nevertheless because nine undercover agents needed to be transported to the area.

Though previous governments insisted "no military personnel" were on the flight, the documentary claims a "black operations" unit had been smuggled on board. Cabin crew yesterday disclosed how they saw the young men join the flight at the last minute, without explanation. They posed as "engineers and surveyors" and sat together without the visas normal passengers needed to enter Kuwait.

Journalist Steven Davis said he had spoken to five people involved in planning and executing the undercover operation. He said his inquiries had established that British Airways had been concerned about the safety of the flight and sought guidance. A consular official who reassured the airline that it was safe to fly was an MI6 agent, it is claimed. It is said the original plan was to have the operatives dropped off and for the plane to complete its journey to Madras and Kuala Lumpur but the invasion occurred with the flight in mid-air.

The revelations yesterday prompted Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker to write to Tony Blair, claiming parliament was misled about the operation. He is asking for a full inquiry. "The new evidence shows that the government allowed the flight to land knowing that Iraq had invaded Kuwait and knowing the passengers would be in danger," he said.

He added that statements by Baroness Thatcher [prime minister at the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait], who said the plane landed before the invasion, and Sir John Major [prime minister when hostilities began in 1991], who said no military were on board, must now be challenged.

A spokesman for Baroness Thatcher declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Sir John said he would have sought advice before answering any questions as prime minister. "He would have responded according to that advice and he would have responded in good faith," she said.

French passengers on the flight have received compensation from British Airways and some British hostages now hope for damages. Mr Baker said: "The least these people deserve is an explanation."

Mr Davis said the undercover operation had gathered vital intelligence but the operatives he had spoken to on condition of anonymity had mixed feelings about the use of the flight to transport them to Kuwait. "One said 'I feel very sorry for the passengers' but 'needs must' and 'what we did saved lives. The ends justify the means'. My first source, however, was rather guilty and thought that alternative means should have been used for getting them into the country."

It is claimed that two of the group were captured by the Iraqis. They joined the other captured Britons and were kept in sites around Kuwait. But their colleagues were able to pass on intelligence about the movement of troops and weaponry.

Clive Earley, 62, of Alresford, Hampshire, cabin services director, said: "I was taken hostage for five months. We had the fear of God put into us and when we came back and asked 'who and what were those men?' we were just told we imagined it; that we must be lying because the government would never put military people on an airplane and put the lives of 389 people at risk. I am very angry."