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Turkish man hijacks plane; no one harmed

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 4, 2006

BRINDISI, Italy - A Turkish man seeking political asylum hijacked a jetliner carrying 113 people Tuesday and forced it to land in southern Italy, where he surrendered and released all the passengers unharmed, officials said.

Security officials in Brindisi, where the plane landed, said the unarmed hijacker was seeking to have a message delivered to Pope Benedict XVI, but said they did not know what that message was.

Turkish officials said the suspect, whom they identified as Hakan Ekinci, 28, was an army deserter seeking political asylum. They stressed that earlier statements by some officials that he had hijacked the plane to protest Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey next month were incorrect.

Pope Benedict angered the Muslim world last month with a speech that many Islamic followers found offensive. The pontiff later expressed regret, but his visit to predominantly Muslim Turkey has raised tensions.

The Vatican said Tuesday that the pope's visit was still tentatively set for Nov. 28 to Dec. 1.

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said the hijacker was trying to evade military service in Turkey. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler also said the hijacker was an army deserter who had fled to Albania.

Candan Karlitekin, chairman of Turkish Airlines' board of directors, initially said the Boeing 737-400 had been hijacked by two Turks. But several officials later said that Ekinci acted alone.

The Turkish captain of the jet issued an alert that the plane was hijacked shortly after it took off from the Albanian capital of Tirana en route to Istanbul.

The passengers got off the plane about two hours after it landed in Brindisi and were individually questioned by authorities. They apparently hadn't been aware of the takeover while it was occurring.

"They (the crew) told us there was a engine problem and that the Istanbul airport was closed," said passenger Albert Okalari of Tirana.

He said they only became aware of the hijacking after arriving in Brindisi and passengers switched on their cell phones, for the first time hearing the news reports.

[Last modified October 4, 2006, 01:00:11]