Title: Swiss currency
king was on board hijacked plane
Author: PTI
Publication: The Asian
Age
Date: January 10, 2000
One of the hostages aboard
the Indian Airlines plane recently hijacked to Kandahar was Swiss tycoon
Roberto Giori, who controls 90 per cent of the world’s currency printing
business.
Mr Giori told Time magazine
that after witnessing the “courage” of the “mighty” Indians, the experience
has changed him forever. “What I experienced on the plan has changed
me forever. I do not know what is Hinduism… But the way passengers
stayed so calm throughout, even the children were exemplary. I told
myself, if the plane had been full of Italians or French, it could have
been very different,” Mr Giori, the 50-year-old owner of the Lausanne-based
company De La Rue Giori, told Time. Mr Giori was travelling in business
class before being herded into economy class by the hijackers. Switzerland
sent a special envoy to Kandahar airport to deal with the abduction of
its “currency king,” his companion and two other Swiss nationals on board
the plane. Mr Giori holds duals Swiss and Italians nationality.
