A Turkish court yesterday charged an Egyptian with alleged ties to al-Qaeda and a Turkish accomplice with hijacking a plane carrying more than 140 people, the Anatolia news agency said.
The court in the southern city of Antalya charged Egyptian Momen Abdul Aziz Talikh and Mehmet Resat Ozlu with "hijacking a plane, being members of an armed terrorist organization and restricting personal freedom," the report said.
Talikh, an Egyptian passport-holder of Palestinian origin, and Ozlu were sent to the local prison pending trial.
The pair on Saturday commandeered the plane operated by Turkish private carrier Atlas Jet shortly after it took off from the breakaway Turkish-held north of Cyprus for Istanbul.
Claiming they were al-Qaeda members and wielding a fake bomb made of modelling clay, the hijackers demanded the plane be diverted to Iran or Syria, but the pilots landed in Antalya saying they had to refuel.
The pilots fled from the cockpit and most of the passengers escaped from the rear door as the hijackers were releasing women and children through the front exit.
A few passengers and crew remained hostage for several hours before the hijackers were persuaded to release them and turn themselves in.
Citing police sources, Anatolia said that Talikh had been trained in an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 2004 and had spent two months in a Saudi prison after being detained for participating in a rally in Yemen.
During his time in jail Talikh met several al-Qaeda members.
The agency did not specify what rally Talikh attended and when he had served time in Saudi Arabia.
Turkish police have contacted Interpol and other international organizations to get more information on Talikh and his alleged ties to al-Qaeda.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese