Charles Yacoub is a

Lebanese-Canadian Lebanese Canadians are Canadians of Lebanese origin. According to the 2016 census there were 219,555 Canadians who claimed Lebanese ancestry, showing an increase compared to the 2006 census, making them by far the largest group of people wi ...

who hijacked a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

bus and drove it to

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada in 1989. The eight-hour hostage taking resulted in no casualties, but was a notable incident of

domestic terrorism in Canada Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been c ...

Life

Yacoub was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada in 1976. He settled in the

Repentigny Repentigny () is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located North Shore (Laval), north of the city on the lower end of the L'Assomption River, and on the Saint Lawrence River. Repentigny and Ch ...

suburb of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, became the owner of a jewellery store, married, and had two children.Yacoub 'desperate' before hijacking." ''The Montreal Gazette.'' Mar 6, 1990. pg. B.1

Hostage taking

On April 7, 1989, Yacoub boarded a Greyhound bus that was travelling from Montreal to New York. At 12:20 pm on the Champlain Bridge, just outside Montreal, Yacoub brandished a .45 calibre semi-automatic handgun. He held the gun to the head of driver Roger Bednarchuk and ordered him to drive to Ottawa. He also held a device which he claimed would detonate a bomb hidden in the back of the bus, though no bomb was ever found. There were nine other passengers on the bus. At the bridge toll booth, he released René Coupal, a former police officer, who then alerted the authorities. Yacoub was a Lebanese-Christian and claimed to represent the Christian Lebanese Liberation Front, though all later evidence indicated he worked alone. He was upset by the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

and demanded that Syria remove its forces from the country.Hamilton, Dwight. "Terror Threat: International and Homegrown terrorists and their threat to Canada", 2007 He later said that his goal in the event was to draw attention to the situation in Lebanon. The

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the State police, provincial police service for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. There is no official English name, though the agency's name is sometimes translated as Quebec Provincial Police ...

began to search for the bus, but could not find it believing it was still continuing south. They did not alert the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

who were caught unawares when it arrived in Ottawa around 2:45 pm. Upon arriving in Ottawa, Yacoub ordered it driven up to Parliament Hill, which was then open to public vehicles. The bus then proceeded onto the lawn of the Parliament Buildings where it became stuck in the spring mud. A long hostage standoff began with Yacoub gradually releasing hostages. Over the course of the event he fired three shots into the ground, though he never threatened to harm the hostages. The parliament was evacuated, and police surrounded the bus. The event, unfolding for hours in the centre of the nation's capital, became a major media story covered live by the country's networks. At 7:55 pm Yacoub released the remaining five hostages and exited the bus, at which point he was taken into custody. Yacoub faced five charges, and went to trial in 1990. He was convicted of

forcible confinement Confinement may refer to: * With respect to humans: ** An old-fashioned or archaic synonym for childbirth ** Postpartum confinement (or postnatal confinement), a system of recovery after childbirth, involving rest and special foods ** Civil confi ...

and use of a weapon to commit an offence, but in a surprise to many was acquitted of the more serious charges of

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

taking, intimidation of Parliament, and

aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...

. While he could have faced life in prison, he was sentenced to only six years in prison.

References

*"Yacoub 'desperate' before hijacking." ''The Montreal Gazette.'' Mar 6, 1990. pg. B.1 *"8-hour drama ends on Parliament Hill Hostages freed from bus Gunman's demands linked to Lebanon." Tim Harper and Patrick Doyle ''Toronto Star.'' Apr 8, 1989. pg. A.1 *"Stuck bus sits as memento of hijacking." Peter O'Neil. ''The Vancouver Sun.'' Apr 8, 1989. pg. A.1.FRO {{DEFAULTSORT:Yacoub, Charles Terrorism in Canada Canadian Maronites Lebanese emigrants to Canada People from Repentigny, Quebec Year of birth missing (living people) Living people