Last update - 00:00 18/08/2007
Plane hijackers in Turkey free hostages, turn themselves in
By News Agencies and Haaretz Service
All of the passengers and crew from a Turkish plane hijacked earlier on Saturday have been released and the two hijackers have given themselves up.
The hijackers, claiming to have a bomb and to be members of Al-Qaida, held six hostages on the plane for more than four hours. The rest of the 136 passengers managed to escape after the Turkish passenger plane was hijacked heading from northern Cyprus to Istanbul on Saturday.
Turkish Interior Minister Osman Gunes said one hijacker was Turkish and the other had a Syrian passport but could be Palestinian. Their motives were being investigated.
The hijackers had asked that the plane be diverted to Iran or Syria but the lack of fuel forced the pilots to land the plane in Antalya, Turkey , said Tuncay Doganer, CEO of the private Atlas-Jet airline company.
After the plane landed, most of the passengers escaped from the rear exit of the plane while the hijackers were releasing the women and children from the front exit. However, six hostages - four passengers and two crew members - remained behind.
The pilots had left the plane, the Transport Ministry said, and private broadcaster CNN Turk reported that negotiations had hit a sticking point as the hijackers were demanding a pilot back on the plane.
The hijackers had said they wanted the plane to go to Iran, Doganer told reporters.
The television report quoted one witness as saying the hijackers had said they were members of Al-Qaeda and another as saying the hijackers spoke Arabic and said they wanted to go to Syria.
A woman, who was not identified, said the hijackers allowed the crew to serve water to the passengers, promising that they would not hurt them.
The plan had departed from Ercan airport in Turkish-backed northern Cyprus to Istanbul when it was hijacked.
Cyprus, a major tourist destination for Europeans, is divided between the internationally recognized government in the south and an enclave in the north recognized only by Ankara.