Cuban hijack victims return home

Sixteen Cubans who were travelling aboard a Cuban airliner that was hijacked over the island nation and diverted to Key West, Florida, have returned home.

Cuban President Fidel Castro greeted the passengers upon their arrival in Havana yesterday afternoon, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman with the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, could not confirm the departures late yesterday. Six Cuban crew members and 24 Cuban passengers had been held by US authorities since Wednesday’s hijacking of the Douglas DC-3 airliner.

A “small” undisclosed number of the Cubans decided to stay in the US, Ms Gonzalez said. She could not specify exactly how many were staying or leaving. Cubans who reach US soil are generally allowed to remain.

Six men wielding knives hijacked the airliner on Wednesday night as it headed to Havana from Cuba’s Isle of Youth. The plane landed in Key West under an escort of US fighter jets and a Customs helicopter. The six suspects remain jailed in Key West under federal air-piracy charges.

The Cuban government on Thursday asked US authorities to immediately return the plane, its passengers, crew and the alleged hijackers. In Friday’s statement, the Cuban government expressed satisfaction with the prosecution of the six.

The 25 passengers and six crew members from the hijacked plane were brought to a detention centre near Miami. An Italian passenger was released on Thursday to go on his way.

Prosecutors were also trying to determine if any passengers can be held as material witnesses for the hijack trial.

Jacqueline Becerra, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Miami, said the departure of some of the Cubans would not hurt the prosecution of the accused hijackers.

“Obviously, the United States is going to assure itself that its prosecution can go forward,” she said, without giving details.

The Cuban-American National Foundation, an anti-Castro Cuban emigre group, was monitoring the case to determine whether the alleged hijackers needed help, foundation spokesman Joe Garcia said.

“We may offer them basic legal assistance. We haven’t decided yet,” he said.