Saudi Arabia has rejected a request from Russia to extradite two Chechens who hijacked a Russian Tu-154 passenger jet, and plans to execute one of them, according to the Moscow Times, citing media reports.
Deni Magomedzayev, 19, who teamed up with his father, Supyan Arsayev, and brother Idris Arsayev to hijack the Vnukovo jet on March 15, will be beheaded in accordance with Saudi Arabia's strict Sharia laws, Itar-Tass and Kommersant reported.
Idris Arsayev, 16, will be pardoned, the reports said, citing unnamed sources.
The brothers' father was shot dead by Saudi commandos when they stormed the plane shortly after the hijackers forced it to land in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina on a flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to Moscow.
The paper said it tried to get a comment from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Moscow, but the questions “went unanswered” Wednesday.
The trio hijacked the plane shortly after it took off from Istanbul with 162 passengers and 12 crewmembers.
Flight attendant Alexander Khromov stopped the terrorists when they tried to burst into the cockpit and was stabbed in the stomach by Supyan Arsayev.
Flight attendant Yulia Fomina, 27, and Turkish passenger Gursel Kambal, 27, were killed with Supyan Arsayev when Saudi Arabian commandos stormed the plane on March 16.
The Russian prosecutor general's office requested extradition of the two surviving hijackers on March 23.
"We have requested extradition in accordance with the established procedures but have received no official answer yet," an official told the paper.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday that Russia would continue to demand the extradition of the hijackers.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have not signed an extradition agreement – Albawaba.com
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