Hijacked plane lands in Italy

Hijackers on Turkish airliner say they have message for pope
ANSA
Oct. 03, 2006

(ANSA) - Rome, October 3 - A Turkish plane landed at the southern Italian airport of Brindisi on Tuesday after being hijacked, reportedly in protest at Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Turkey .

The plane, a Boeing 737 belonging to Turkish Airlines, was intercepted by two Italian military jets .

Turkish Airlines confirmed that a plane had been hijacked while travelling from the Albanian capital of Tirana to Istanbul but said none of the 113 passengers and crew abroad had been hurt .

"The passengers and crew are under no threat," airline chairman Candan Karlitekin told Turkish television .

Turkey's NTV television said the plane had been hijacked over Greece and diverted to Brindisi and that the two hijackers were ready to surrender themselves to the police .

According to Italian national civil aviation agency ENAC, the hijackers were not armed, were not behaving aggressively and were ready to release the passengers .

Firemen at the scene of the incident told reporters that the hijackers wanted to speak to the press and hand over some packages .

ENAC sources said they insisted on giving a message to the pope but gave no details .

Turkish television said the hijacking was in protest at Pope Benedict's planned trip to Turkey in November .

Turkey was one of the Muslim nations to protest last month when the pope made controversial comments about Islam during a lecture at a German university .

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Vatican had been alerted and was waiting for details .

Brindisi airport has been temporarily closed to air traffic while police are dealing with the emergency .












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