Hijackers used fake bomb
Men claiming al-Qaeda ties used play dough mock explosive to hold passengers and crew of Turkish plane hostage, authorities say
The two men who hijacked a Turkish plane Saturday, claiming al-Qaeda ties, were wielding a fake bomb, authorities said. The alleged bomb turned out to be made of play dough, CNN-Turk television reported, citing police sources.
The two men allowed the women and children get off the plane. A group of men escaped by breaking down the rear emergency exit, passengers said. Four passengers and two crew members were held hostage for four hours, before the hijackers surrendering peacefully in the Turkish city of Antalya.
The hijackers' motive remained unclear Saturday evening. One of the men was Turkish and the other was believed to be a Palestinian carrying a Syrian passport, Transport Minister Osman Gunes said. Earlier, Turkish Cypriot authorities said the men were Iranians protesting US policies.
Gunes said the hijackers, identified as Mehmet Resat Ozlu, of Turkey, and Mommen Abdul Aziz Talikh, told an official they ''apologized to the Turkish nation'' for seizing the plane.
Chain of events
The suspects told police during initial questioning that they tried to storm the cockpit shortly after takeoff, said Alaaddin Yuksel, governor of Antalya. Passengers said they failed to break the door down. ''They claimed to have bombs,'' passenger Erhan Erkul told NTV television.The hijackers then ordered the pilots to divert the flight to Iran, telling passengers they were linked to the al-Qaeda terror network and armed with explosives, officials said. The pilots persuaded the hijackers to let them land at the Mediterranean resort of Antalya in southwest Turkey instead to refuel, officials said.
After landing, the pilots left the plane through the cockpit window to prevent the hijackers from forcing them to fly the plane and shut off the power, said Aydin Kiziltan, chief executive of Worldfocus, the company that leased the plane to Atlasjet.
One passenger told NTV that the hijackers allowed the crew to serve them water and promised not to harm them. ''We are Muslims,'' passengers quoted one of the hijackers as saying.
Cyprus blamed the hijacking on poor security at Ercan airport in the Turkish-controlled part of the island. The Foreign Ministry said the airport did ''not fulfill international security and civil aviation rules.''
However, Salih Usar, who serves as transport minister for the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, said security measures at Ercan were in line with international standards. ''If the hijackers had attempted to slip any explosives into the airport, the security forces would have detected that,'' he said.
