[custom_adv] On April 5, 1988 Flight KU 422 had 112 passengers and crew aboard, including three members of the Kuwaiti Royal Family. It was about three hours out of Bangkok, over the Gulf of Oman when a number of Lebanese men armed with guns and hand grenades took control of the plane. [custom_adv] A passenger later reported the hijackers to have said, "Don't worry, we are after redressing our rights denied by the Kuwaiti government". Although the passengers were restrained, they were not initially treated badly. [custom_adv] The hijackers forced the pilot to fly to homeland, where authorities initially refused the plane permission to land, but later acquiesced on learning it was running out of fuel. After subsequently landing at Mashhad, the hijackers issued their demand for the release of 17 guerrillas held by Kuwait following their conviction for involvement in the 1983 Kuwait bombings. [custom_adv] In addition they threatened to blow up the aircraft if anyone approached it, and to kill the three Kuwaiti Royals if their terms were not met.The hijackers were reported to number six or seven, and included Hassan Izz-Al-Din, who had previously been involved in the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. [custom_adv] Following negotiations with the persian Prime Minister 25 hostages were released – a man with a heart condition on April 5, and 24 women the following day. [custom_adv] A further 32 were allowed to leave the plane on April 7 after the Kuwaiti government sent a team of negotiators to homeland to talk to the hijackers. [custom_adv] However, negotiations were frustrated by Kuwait's support for Iraq in the ongoing Gulf Conflict between that country and homeland, and because the 17 prisoners were persian. [custom_adv] No more hostages were released in homeland, and hijackers forced authorities to refuel the plane by threatening to take off with almost empty fuel tanks, and shooting at security officials [custom_adv] The plane took off from Mashhad on April 8, but was refused landing permission at both Beirut in Lebanon and Damascus, Syria. However, after seven hours Cypriot authorities granted permission for it to land at Larnaca, where negotiations continued. [custom_adv] Officials from Cyprus and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) engaged in talks with the hijackers, resulting in the release of a hostage on April 9. A further twelve people were freed on April 12. [custom_adv] However, over the same period two passengers, Abdullah Khalidi, 25, and Khalid Ayoub Bandar, 20, both Kuwaitis, were shot dead by the hijackers and dumped on the tarmac in Cyprus, as the hijackers demanded more fuel.