Turkish Hijack Ends with Passengers Freed Unharmed

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 29, 2003

Turkish Hijack Ends with Passengers Freed Unharmed

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The 20-year-old Turkish hijacker of a Turkish Airlines plane earlier Saturday surrendered to Greek police and was arrested, and all the 194 passengers and nine crewsaboard the plane were released and sent to safe places, a Greek government spokesman said.

So far, all the passengers and crew were unharmed and in good health as the hijacking ended peacefully.

The young hijacker, who claimed he had explosives strapped to his body, seized domestic Flight TK 160 at 22:00 local time shortly after the takeoff from Istanbul to Ankara on Friday.

Police in Turkey confirmed that the hijacker was Turkish citizen, and so far there has been no evidence that tied him to any terrorist organization.

Police said the hijacker's aim was still unclear, but he initially wanted to fly to Berlin and complained that his mother and sister were being kept "hostage," Turkey's Transportation Ministry said.

Passengers of hijacked plane arrive in Ankara safely

All the passengers of a hijacked Turkish plane arrived here safely on Saturday after a peaceful settlement of the night-long incident.

A plane carrying all the 194 passengers on board the hijacked Airbus A310 landed at Ankara's Esenboga Airport at 10:20 a.m. local time (0820 GMT). Relatives of the passengers welcomed them with flowers at the airport.

The passengers included two Turkish parliamentary members of the ruling Justice and Development Party and a former minister.

Meanwhile, the hijacked plane of the Turkish Airlines with ninecrew landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 10:50 a.m. (0850 GMT).

The Turkish plane was seized by a hijacker, who claimed he had explosives strapped to his body, at 22:00 local time Friday night (2000 GMT), shortly after it took off from Istanbul on a domestic flight to Ankara. It landed at Athens international airport for refueling shortly after midnight.

The incident ended peacefully after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had made an appeal by telephone to the hijacker in an attempt to end the standoff at Athens airport, said Turkish government sources.

The hijacker surrendered shortly before dawn on Saturday, aboutan hour after setting free the passengers. Police officials said they found no explosives or weapons on the hijacker when they searched him after his arrest.

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