துருக்கி விமானம் இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகளால் கடத்தப்பட்டது

அல்குவேதா இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள் துருக்கி விமானத்தை கடத்தினர்.

Turkish airplane hijacked by militants
18 Aug 2007, 1233 hrs IST,AGENCIES

Hijackers claiming to have bombs and to be members of Al-Qaida hijacked a Turkish passenger plane heading from Cyprus to Istanbul

ISTANBUL: Hijackers claiming to have bombs and to be members of Al-Qaida on Saturday hijacked a Turkish passenger plane heading from northern Cyprus to Istanbul. The two hijackers are Iranians and the hijackers were protesting against the policies of the United States.

The hijackers had asked that the plane be diverted to Iran or Syria but the pilots landed the plane at Antalya airport, near the Mediterranean coast, said Tuncay Doganer, CEO of the private Atlas-Jet airline company.

Most of the passengers managed to escape from the rear exit of the plane while the hijackers were releasing the women from the front exit, one passenger told private NTV television.

Doganer said only crew and "a small number" of passengers were left on board. CNN-Turk television said two crew _ possibly the pilots _ and nine passengers were still inside.

It was not clear how many hijackers were on board. The passenger, who was not identified, said they were speaking Arabic between themselves.

Doganer said there were 136 passengers on board when the plane left Ercan airport in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus on Saturday morning.

Another passenger told NTV that anti-terror teams surrounded the plane.