The six remaining airline hijack hostages were freed by their Arab captors in Amman, Jordan last night and landed at Athens airport this morning on their way home to New York. Their release, it was learned today, was part of a four-way deal in which 19 Arabs held prisoner by Britain, West Germany, Switzerland and Israel were to be freed as soon as the hostages were safely out of Jordan. According to Swiss sources, Israel agreed to release two Algerian nationals detained there last month and ‘en captured in an abortive attempt to hijack an El Al airliner Sept. 6. Miss Khaled was expected to go to Egypt as soon as she is freed. The last six hostages were turned over to the International Red Cross in Amman. They included Gerald Berkowitz, of the Bronx, a student at the Community College of the University of New York, and two Brooklyn rabbis, Abraham and Joseph Harari-Raful.
Mr. Berkowitz, a chemist, told newsmen in Athens that he “had no fear of any harm coming to us from the commandoes.” Rabbi Abraham Harari-Raful said the hostages were not mistreated. “We ate what they ate.” he said. The rabbi said the hostages were turned over to the Red Cross by the guerrillas. One of the 33 American hostages freed earlier said in an interview yesterday that 28 of the hijack victims had appealed to Israel’s Premier Golda Meir for a “reciprocal act of good will” in order to effect their release. Richard Morse, a 47-year-old consulting economist from Andover, Mass, said the “act” was the release of some Arabs held by Israel. Mr. Morse said the hostages were not coerced into sending the appeal to Mrs. Meir and noted that half of the signers were Jews. Meanwhile, more than 100 aviation lawyers convened here yesterday for an emergency meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization on the problems of aerial hijacking. They will attempt to rule on the question of who holds jurisdiction over a hijacked aircraft and treaties aimed against air piracy.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
