Breaking: Turkish passenger plane hijacked

[RB TexLa]

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) A Turkish television station reports that an airplane has been hijacked on its way from Northern Cyprus to Istanbul.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_hijacked_plane

STANBUL, Turkey - Hijackers claiming to have bombs and to be members of al-Qaida hijacked a Turkish passenger plane on Saturday as it was heading from northern Cyprus to Istanbul, officials and passengers said.

The hijackers had asked that the Atlastjet Airlines plane be diverted to Iran or Syria but the pilots landed the plane at Antalya airport in southwestern Turkey, said Tuncay Doganer, CEO of Atlasjet.

Most of the passengers managed to escape from the rear exit of the plane while the hijackers were releasing the women from the front exit, one passenger told the private Turkish television station NTV.

Doganer said only crew and "a small number" of passengers were left on board. CNN-Turk television said two crew — possibly the pilots — and nine passengers were still inside