BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- A 45-year-old Moroccan who used a fake pistol to hijack an airliner to Spain surrendered peacefully today after releasing all 92 passengers and crew unharmed.
The seven-hour ordeal began late Wednesday in skies over North Africa. The Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-400 had taken off from Casablanca, Morocco, on a flight to Tunis, Tunisia.
The hijacker, whose name was not released, demanded to be flown to Germany. The plane was diverted to Barcelona, landing at El Prat airport about 11 p.m., where it was immediately surrounded by national police and Civil Guards.
The hijacker insisted that the plane be refueled for the trip to Germany, but was convinced by a special team of police and psychologists, working in the control tower through a French-speaking interpreter, to give himself up.
The passengers filed out the back of the plane into two waiting buses, while the hijacker waited with the pilot in the cockpit for police.
Authorities initially questioned the hijacker in the airport police station. They have 72 hours to bring him before a judge, police spokesman Carlos Carbonell said.
The man was described as ``mentally unstable'' by David Bonet, the Interior Ministry's second-ranking official in Catalonia, the northeast region bordering France of which Barcelona is the capital. Bonet said the hijacker's only motive appeared to be a desire to emigrate to Europe.
Bonet said police confirmed the man was acting alone and used a fake pistol. He did not say whether it was a toy.
Authorities said the passengers included 24 Tunisians, 32 Moroccans and the nine-member Moroccan crew. The remainder were from Europe and other African countries.
The passengers spent the remainder of the night in the airport departure lounge before continuing their journey to Tunisia on another Royal Air Maroc flight at 9:40 a.m., Carbonell said. The crew remained in Barcelona.
It was the 15th hijacking or attempted hijacking involving Spanish airports or planes since 1969.
In June 1998, a 43-year-old Spaniard seized an Iberia plane with 130 people aboard during a flight from Seville, Spain, to Barcelona. He forced the plane to land in the eastern city of Valencia.
A handheld device he said was a detonator for an explosive in the hold turned out to be television remote control, and he surrendered a few hours after talking with his psychiatrist on the telephone.
BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A man armed with a handgun has surrendered to Spanish authorities, peacefully ending a hijacking of a Moroccan jet with 88 people on board.
Officials in Spain say a person commandeered the plane while it was en route from Morocco to Tunisia. After the plane was directed to Spain, the hijacker said he wanted to be taken to Germany. After several hours of negotiations, authorities convinced the person to surrender early today.
Police say they do not know why the plane was hijacked and are not yet releasing the identity or nationality of the suspect in custody. The did say he had a pistol when he hijacked the plane.
There were no reported injuries, but after conflicting reports of the possible number of hijackers, police searched passengers carefully as they left the jet and boarded buses to be taken to the airport.
Officials in Spain say the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-400 left Casablanca, Morocco, Wednesday night with 79 passengers and a 9-person crew headed for Tunis, Tunisia. The plan was commandeered and ordered to Spain, where it landed in Barcelona about 11 p.m.
Spanish authorities directed the plane to an isolated section of El Prat Airport and as security personnel surrounded the craft, officials began negotiations.
BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The hijacking of a Moroccan jet with 92 people on board has ended peacefully in Spain with the surrender of a man who authorities said was only carrying a toy gun.
Officials say the man commandeered the plane while it was en route from Morocco to Tunisia, and after he forced the crew to divert the flight to Barcelona, Spain, he said he wanted to be taken to Germany. After about six hours of negotiations, authorities convinced him to surrender early today.
Police said the man had a pistol, but a Moroccan security source in Rabat said the gun was likely a ``toy,'' noting that security forces at Moroccan airports ``are able to discover any weapon.''
Police said they did not know why the plane was hijacked, and they have not yet released the identity or nationality of the suspect in custody. In Rabat, Morocco, The Royal Air Maroc company described the hijacker as a mentally disturbed 45-year-old Moroccan who was previously deported from Germany, where he had an affair with a German woman.
An informed source told United Press International that the hijacker was from the Moroccan city of Meknas.
A source at the Mohammed V airport in Morocco said the incident did not affect airport operations and that no extraordinary security measures were adopted following the hijacking.
There were no reported injuries, but after conflicting reports of the possible number of hijackers, police searched passengers carefully as they left the jet and boarded buses to be taken to the airport.
Officials in Spain say the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-400 left Casablanca, Morocco, Wednesday night with 83 passengers and a nine- person crew headed for Tunis, Tunisia. The plane landed in Barcelona about 11 p.m. local time (5 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday.
Spanish authorities directed the plane to an isolated section of El Prat Airport and as security personnel surrounded the craft, officials began negotiations.