Gun not mine says accused airline hijacker

A Swedish Muslim was today accused of planning to hijack a Ryanair jetliner en route to England after a gun was found in his carry-on luggage as he prepared to board the flight.

The 29-year-old Stockholm resident of Tunisian parentage was part of a group heading to an Islamic conference in Birmingham from a smallregional airport at Vaesteraas, 60 miles northwest of the Swedish capital, said police.

He was arrested after security officers at the small regional airport found the weapon in a toiletries bag during a routine scan of his hand-luggage on Thursday, police spokesman Ulf Palm said.

“We believe he was going to hijack the plane,” Palm said, adding that authorities were investigating possible terrorist links. “We can’t rule that out and that is something we’re looking into.”

Police said the suspect had prior convictions of theft and assault, but they declined to speculate about a possible motive, give details about the weapon or say if it was loaded, pending their investigation.

Local media quoted a police source as saying the gun was loaded, but that the man had denied the pistol was his and did not know how it ended up in his luggage.

The suspect was being held on a preliminary charge of planning to hijack a plane. A hearing will be held in a few days to determine if the man should remain in custody until prosecutors decide whether to charge him.

Foreign Minister Jack Straw praised the security effort at the airport, a former military base that mainly operates regional and London-bound flights.

“I would like first to express my appreciation to the Swedish law enforcement authorities for their great skill in ensuring that this man was apprehended before he could perform any hijacking on the airplane,” said Straw while in Denmark for a EU meeting.

“But the fact that he appeared shows that the threat of international terrorism remains and highlights the need for us to take concerted international action against that threat,” he added.

The suspect was booked on a daily flight from Vaesteraas to Stansted airport outside London on Irish discount airline Ryanair.

Several passengers already on board the plane were evacuated while police searched the cabin and luggage compartment.

The other members of the group – 18 adults and two children – were questioned for several hours at police headquarters and then cleared of involvement and released, Palm said.

“Suddenly police came and said we had to leave the plane. They pointed at us with guns,” said passenger Abla Mohamed Ali.

“The police took everybody that looked Muslim and put them in a room and everyone who didn’t look Muslim in another. They say we are witnesses, but we feel more like suspects.”

It was not clear how the group was organised or where they were headed, although the Salafi Bookstore and Islamic Centre in Birmingham was hosting a three-day conference starting today.

Abu Kahadeejah, a meeting organiser, said about 3,000 people were expected but that he did know whether the suspect had planned to be among them.

“We do not know him and nor have we had any communications with him,” Kahadeejah said in a statement. He also noted that Islam forbids harming or endangering innocent civilians.

“It is something we would distance ourselves from and condemn unconditionally,” he said. “All this type of behaviour is forbidden.”

The fundamentalist Salifi branch of Islam strives to practice what they consider a purer ancient form of the religion.

Ryanair said 189 passengers were booked on the flight, which took off just before midnight and arrived at Stansted with 164 passengers and six crew.

A charge of planning to hijack a plane could carry a sentence of six months to life in prison, Palm said.

Airports in Sweden, a nation of 8.9 million people, have tightened security since the September 11 attacks in the United States.

There have been at least five attempted hijackings of airliners in Sweden, with the latest incident in 1993, when a Russian couple forced a Russian plane bound for St. Petersburg to land at Arlanda airport north of Stockholm.

The hijackers, who had threatened to blow up the plane, were extradited to Russia, TT said.