According to the Associated Press, a Saudi team of negotiators was having great difficulty communicating with the hijackers, who spoke neither English or Arabic, until a someone who spoke Chechen was located to translate for the Saudi hostage negotiators. Those talks are said to be continuing at the time of this report. Officially unconfirmed reports continue to swirl that one of the hijackers is a former senior military official from the Chechen government, but that can not be independently confirmed at this time. Meanwhile, a pro-Chechen press agency, which says it is the outlet for statements by separatist forces in Chechnya, denies that they have anything to do with the hijacking. The ill-fated aircraft is now reportedly on the tarmac in Medina, after first landing in Jeddah and then being ordered to the Holy City of Medina by the hijackers.
Negotiations are now under way between the Saudi authorities and the hijackers.
We hope that the hijacking will end tonight,'' a diplomat reportedly told the Reuters news service. As is customary in Saudi Arabia, few other official details concerning the continuing incident are being released. The hijackers forced the plane to fly to Saudi Arabia's holy city of Medina. According to Russian news agencies, the plane, a Tupolev 154 owned by Vnukovo Airlines, was taken over by two men armed with knives. Turkey said the hijackers had stabbed one person.