Man charged with hijack attempt

A Swedish man was today charged with planning to hijack a plane bound for Britain after trying to board a flight with a handgun, police in Sweden said.

Originally from Tunisia, the 29-year-old was among a group of 20 boarding the Ryanair flight to London Stansted when the weapon was found in his hand luggage.

The apparent hijack attempt comes just days before the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington which killed about 3,000 people.

Swedish police said the man and his companions were on their way to an Islamic conference in Birmingham.

After questioning them for several hours, police released the other members of the group without charge.

Police spokesman Ulf Palm said: “We believe he was going to hijack the plane.”

He said detectives were considering a possible terrorist link for the hijacking attempt.

“We can’t rule that out and that is something we’re looking into,” Mr Palm added.

The suspect is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm, police said. He is still in police custody.

Mr Palm said police would not release any further details at this stage.

He added: “We are going to hold back on the information for the nearest future since this is now a criminal investigation.”

It is not yet clear when the suspect will make an appearance in court.