1.
SV: Blindfolded accused people leaving police vehicle and entering court house. (3 shots)
0.24

2.
SV INTERIOR: handcuffs removed from prisoners.
0.35

3.
SV: prisoners in dock (3 shots)
0.50

4.
SV: policeman reading indictment
0.54

5.
SV: prisoner in dock.
0.58

6.
SV: defence lawyer speaking.
1.04

7.
SV PAN: prisoners in dock.
1.12



Initials RH/MF/DE/1845



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Cairo, the trial started on Tuesday (7 September) of six men accused of involvement in the abortive hijacking of an Egyptian airliner last month.

SYNOPSIS: Two Palestinians, Ali Ahmed Osman, and Mohammed Naguib, and an Egyptian, Ahmed Suleiman, have pleaded 'guilty' to the actual hijacking. However, they and tow other accused, Palestinian Suleiman Tirkawi and Eid Hussein, a Jordanian living in Cairo, have pleaded 'not guilty' to charges of contacting a foreign power - a charge that carries the death penalty.

Another Palestinian, believed to be in Jordan, is being tried in his absence. The charges arose out of the attempted hijacking of an Egyptian airliner last month. The hijack was thwarted by Egyptian commandos disguised as technicians, who stormed the plane at Luxor airport in south-eastern Egypt, where it had landed for refuelling and repairs.

The prosecution has repeatedly accused Libya of being behind the hijack. The prosecutor, Colonel Abdel Shahin, said the whole affair was part of a sabotage scheme in a Libyan conspiracy against Egypt. Libya has denied all involvement in the hijack. Relations between the two have recently been very strained.