Italian arrested on second hijack attempt

A 29-year-old Italian former policeman was arrested yesterday after attempting to hijack an aircraft for the second time in three years.

“Oh God, he’s done it again,” said Stefano Savorani’s mother Orella when told of his latest bid.

Savorani, who tried to hijack a Paris-bound Alitalia jetliner in mid-air yesterday, was kicked out of the Italian police because of mental problems, said French authorities.

Police in Bologna, where the plane had taken off with 57 passengers and seven crew, said Savorani has psychological problems and hijacked a plane in France in 1999.

French police said he used a fake weapon to commandeer an Italian train in 1998.

But they could not explain why he was not in prison or how his case was handled after the 1999 plane hijacking.

“It’s the same person,” a police spokesman said. “He’s done it again.” Orella Savorani said her son was being treated for schizophrenia. She said had been worried about him.

“I’ve been anxious for hours because he didn’t come home at lunchtime. This morning, he asked me for 500, telling me he was going to Bologna to pay his university fees.”

The MD-80 jetliner was flying over Switzerland when Savorani stood up, brandishing a rectangular box.

He threatened to blow up the plane. Some officials said he claimed the box was a remote control for a bomb.

Others said he told passengers it was a bomb. According to police, he then declared: “I belong to an al-Qaida network.

“I want to make a declaration to the press.”

It was unclear whether he forced the plane to land in the southern French city of Lyon or whether the pilot chose to land there.

A special French police squad went to the end of a runway. There the airliner had parked and police seized Savorani as he left with passengers.

Enzo Bianco, head of the Italian parliamentary committee on secret services, said the suspect had been “disarmed and captured”.

“This makes us breathe a sigh of relief at the help from the French police who captured this sole hijacker,” he said.

The attempted hijack came as France has been steeling itself against possible terrorist actions.

In a series of raids in and around Paris, French police have arrested at least 18 people suspected of involvement in terrorist groups.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told parliament yesterday authorities were exercising “extreme vigilance” against a possible attack.