Kingfisher

1976

there was much to be taken that pleased those who would eventually fashion the Foreign Office release. The red pencils were busy underlining passages from the speech of Chaim Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. .. Those countries which fail to take a clear and unequivocal stand against international terrorism for reasons of expediency or cowardice will stand damned by all the decent people in this world and despised in history. There is a time in the affairs of men when even governments must make difficult decisions guided not by considerations of expediency but by considerations of morality… It is now for the nations of this world, regardless of political differences which may divide them, to unite against this common enemy which recognizes no authority, knows no borders, respects no sovereignty, ignores all basic human decencies, and places no limits on human bestialities.'

Also coming down from the shelves were the transcripts of the 1970 Hague convention called to discuss the 'Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft'. Article 6 was the one that most concerned the drafters.

Upon being satisfied that the circumstances so warrant, any contracting state in the territory of which the offender or the alleged offender is present shall take him into custody and other measures shall be as provided in the law of that state but may only be continued for such time as is necessary to enable any criminal or extradition proceedings to be instituted.'

It was agreed that a good case could be made out. It would be harder to explain the absence of an appearance before an Essex Magistrate's court, and the speed with which it was intended the surviving hi-jacker should be removed from British soil and begin his journey back to the Soviet Union, but the press conferences at Stansted should divert immediate attention from the one point of contention. Get rid of him first was the priority, before the protests were mobilized, before inter-government relations were strained.

There were one or two in the labyrinth of Whitehall who voiced concern at the planned culmination of the affair, but they were not overly loud with their anxieties, and were soon muted. Closed ranks and consensus opinion. More dignified that way.

Charlie was the last to leave the plane. They had let the photographers forward and he saw them in their broken ranks running towards the Ilyushin from the distant perimeter fence, hustling with their pronged tripods and cameras and cables. Those who were least encumbered with equipment, and remembered him as the man who had walked out across their lenses in the early morning had a chance to photograph Charlie. When he recognized their opportunity he raised his hand to cover his face, a reflex gesture. He would have been horrified to know that he had provided the Fleet Street caption writers with one of the day's many bonuses. The "Shy Hero' was the title they put on the picture of the shambling figure walking away across the tarmac, his shirtsleeved arm raised, his trousers sagging on his hips.