The AIA Building hostage crisis took place at the AIA (American Insurance Associates) Building in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 5 August 1975. The Japanese Red Army took more than 50 hostages at the AIA building, which housed several embassies. The hostages included the United States consul and the Swedish charg d'affaires. The gunmen won the release of five imprisoned terrorists and flew with them to Libya.



The Japanese Red Army (日本赤軍, Nihon Sekigun, abbr. JRA) was a communist militant organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was labelled a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active in the 1970s and 1980s. After the Lod Airport massacre, it sometimes called itself the Arab-JRA. The group was also known as the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB), the Holy War Brigade, and the Anti-War Democratic Front. The JRA's stated goals were to overthrow the Japanese government and the monarchy, as well as to start a world revolution.