January 25, 2001, A hijacker of a Yemenia passenger jet was returned back home aboard a Yemeni military plane on Thursday after being handed over by Djibouti authorities, a security official said. The Yemeni, who claimed to be a supporter of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was overpowered by crew members after hijacking the plane carrying 91 passengers, including the U.S. ambassador, Barbara Bodine to Yemen, on Tuesday.

The hijacker, identified as Mohammed Yahya Ali Satar, had threatened to blow up the Boeing 727 if it was not diverted to Baghdad, which is under a U.N. embargo since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Satar was arrested after the pilot of the domestic Yemenia Airways flight landed the plane in Djibouti, where passengers disembarked safely through an emergency exit. Authorities are looking inot how and armed hijacker managed to board the plane.