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On Tuesday, the Swiss government recommended that the five nations choose the International Committee of the Red Cross as their common bargaining agent and all quickly agreed. The concerned nations quickly set up a coordinating board, composed of diplomats and high government officials in Bern, which was soon dubbed the "crisis cartel." To handle the negotiations, the Red Cross chose one of its ace troubleshooters: André Rochat, 44, a veteran of sensitive Middle East assignments. His only guideline was that he should work for the release of all passengers, crews and planes—a strategy designed to ensure that Israelis and other Jews would be included in any deal. As for concessions to the commandos, Switzerland and West Germany made no secret of their willingness to release their Arab prisoners. But Britain was reluctant to trade Leila Khaled; she was being formally detained under the Alien Order Act in a heavily guarded London police station, where she spent her waking hours lecturing the police matron in her cell on the justice of the Palestinian cause. Most reluctant of all was Israel, which has some 3,100 Arab terrorists in its prisons. Israel did not rule out a trade of prisoners, but insisted that it must study the Arab terms very closely before committing itself.
Meanwhile conditions for those remaining on board the planes were becoming distinctly uncomfortable. Desert temperatures reached over 100° in the daytime and fell to the mid-50s at night. Some passengers requested boiled water and special diets that the "field kitchens," which the guerrillas had set up alongside the planes, could not provide. The most serious worry was inadequate sanitation, as toilet storage tanks filled to overflowing. Many of these problems were revealed to reporters at a chaotic planeside press conference sponsored by the P.F.L.P., during which airliner prisoners conversed by bullhorns with newsmen, who were warned not to approach the hostages too closely.
On Wednesday, the Popular Fronts terms for releasing the hostages became somewhat clearer after it staged an even more audacious hijacking. Concerned that they might not have enough British nationals to trade for Leila's release, the commandos pirated a London-bound BOAC flight shortly after its takeoff from Bahrain in order to gain more human bargaining chips. The VC-10, carrying 105 passengers and a crew of ten, was ordered by two gunmen to land at Revolution Airstrip beside the other two hijacked craft. News of the latest hijacking reached Prime Minister Edward Heath as he was on his way to a Cabinet meeting about the earlier incidents. "Oh, Lord," Heath muttered.
Living conditions improved somewhat on Wednesday for the imprisoned passengers. Airline meals, 1,000 a day, were flown from Beirut to Amman, where they were transported to the airstrip. From Geneva, the Red Cross shipped portable toilets, blankets, first-aid supplies and sanitary napkins. The Palestinian commandos draped their banners on the airliners' open doors and even painted the Popular Front's name in large Arabic letters across the fuselage of two craft. They provided ambulance rides for the kids, helped older passengers climb down stepladders for daily exercise, and brought in a doctor to attend medical problems.
Troubles in Amman