Hijacked Turkish plane lands in Italy

A Turkish hijacker seeking to communicate with Pope Benedict seized an airliner flying from Albania to Istanbul on Tuesday and diverted it to Italy before surrendering.

All 107 passengers and six crew left the Turkish Airlines plane at Brindisi airport after brief negotiations, Italy's aviation authority ENAC said, adding that police were checking to see if other hijackers were among those on board.

"At the moment one person has given himself up. We are trying to verify whether there was a second hijacker on the aircraft," Antonio Lattarulo, head of ENAC for Brinidisi in southern Italy, told Reuters.

Turkish TV initially quoted police sources as saying the plane had been hijacked in protest at a planned November visit to Turkey by the Pope, who offended many Muslims with a speech last month linking the spread of the Islamic faith to violence.

But Turkish media later identified the hijacker as Hakan Ekinci, a convert to Christianity who had written to the Pope in late August, asking for his help to avoid compulsory military service in Turkey.

Turkey's Dogan News Agency said Ekinci was born in the western Turkish province of Izmir in 1978 and had been convicted of fraud and pickpocketing. It said he travelled to Albania in May this year and did not return.

Dogan quoted from his letter: "Dear Pope, I am Hakan Ekinci. I am a Christian and I never want to serve a Muslim army. I wish you to help me as the spiritual leader of the Christian world."

The Vatican said the Pope was being kept informed about the hijacking but preparations for the Nov. 28-Dec. 1 trip to Turkey were going ahead.