Hijacker ‘fears persecution after religious conversion’

A TURKISH army deserter who hijacked a flight to Italy has told prosecutors he was seeking asylum because he fears persecution in his Muslim homeland after his conversion to Christianity and wanted Pope Benedict XVI’s protection.

“It looks like it was an operation which he had planned for some time, the reasons are of religious nature,” Brindisi Prosecutor Giuseppe Giannuzzi said yesterday. The flight landed safely in the southern Italian port city on Tuesday.

“Having taken up the Christian religion, he feared going back to Turkey,” said Mr Giannuzzi, who interrogated the suspect after he surrendered.