Duff hijack report. Pakistan ?

[SimCaptain]

Norwegian media (TV2 Nettavisen) is right now reporting news from Al-Jazeera TV that several airliners could be hijacked or has already been hijacked and on their way to Pakistan.

Pakistan airports security is raised to highest level.

Al-Jazeera tells media that the source is within the Pakistani secret service.



Hope this is not true !


Link to source (in Norwegian):
http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/verden/article221887.ece

Link to source in Sweden (Newspaper Expressen):
http://www.expressen.se/index.jsp?a=131718

[Airbubba]

Pak sounds red alert at its airports

PTI[ TUESDAY, MAY 04, 2004 07:50:57 PM ]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday declared a red alert at all its airports, claiming that it had received credible intelligence of a possible terrorist attempt to hijack aircraft.

The state-run PTV announced this evening that the red alert has been sounded following reports of a likelihood of an attempt to hijack a plane from one of the airports.

All the visitor passes have been cancelled and nobody barring authorised persons would be allowed entry into the airports, it said.

Pakistan opposition parties said the 'red alert' was a ploy to prevent cadre and leaders of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy to receive Shahbaz Sharif, brother of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N, who has announced his plans to return to Pakistan on May 11, ending over three years in exile.

Shahbaz, who had been exiled in Dec, 2000 along with brother Nawaz announced in London on Monday that he would arrive in Lahore on May 11. Shahbaz decided to return after Pakistan's Supreme Court recently observed that exile was violation of human right and every Pakistani has a right to return.

Apparently, there was concern in the government that Shahaz's arrival could galvanise the mainstream parties agitating against the rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

Some of the senior Ministers said Shahbaz could be deported back, while others said he would be arrested for pending cases against him. PML-N leaders said Shahbaz was ready to face the cases.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/658871.cms

[Aerofoil]

Has anyone any further news on this? Hope its just a false alarm! :confused:

[fly_guy100]

Omg....I really hope this isn't true! What airlines currently fly to Pakistan?

[B737NG]

PIA. Pakistan International Airlines is the off. carrier. They just
received another B777. I meet some guys recently in Renton.

NG

[Left Coaster]

Good Morning, just returned from a turn around to the country in question, certainly higher levels of security in place but the company I work for already has very high levels of it in place. No news on the airways about any untowards attempts and the ATC was normal (!) for the area. I hope that everyone plays it safe and no one is hurt.
LC

[LATEST]

Has anyone heard of reports that there is a plane hijacking underway in the United Arab Emirates.
I understand it has been reported on radio

[Half a Mexican]

It's been 90 minutes since your post and I can't find a thing anywhere.

Are you sure that the radio report that was heard was not this story? -

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/WarOnTerrorism/2004/05/05/448196-ap.html

--
HaM

[Halfnut]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&e=13&u=/ap/pakistan_hijack_plot

Pakistan Authorities Uncover Hijack Plot

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani authorities have uncovered a plot by a small terror cell to hijack a plane en route to the United Arab Emirates and possibly blow it up, the prime minister said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali told The Associated Press in an interview that authorities believe there was a group of about four to six people who wanted to hijack a plane. Intelligence indicated they wanted to blow it up, he said.

Jamali had no details on how close the plotters came to carrying out the attack.

Details of the plot came a day after Pakistan said it was beefing up security at 35 airports nationwide. Airports remained open and flights were not disrupted, although security was raised to its highest level, Jamali said.

"Naturally when one gets some hint about (a plot) or one gets a feeler or is informed directly or indirectly, I think this high alert is a must," he said.

Dubai in the UAE is a regional aviation hub and many flights from Pakistan go through there.

Jamali did not say whether the plot involved Pakistanis or foreign terrorists.

"Hijackers have no nationality," he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Rauf Chaudhry told AP that a Pakistani intelligence agency had issued the warning, but no arrests had been made. He also would not reveal whether the plotters were believed to be linked to al-Qaida.

The United States has had friendly relations with the UAE since 1971. The UAE military provides humanitarian assistance in Iraq .

[chippy63]

fly_guy,
The major foreign operator is Emirates: they from Dubai into Karachi ( 25x /week), Islamabad (5x), Lahore (4x), and Peshawar (2x).
BA goes to Islamabad (3x) and Swiss go in via Dubai (not sure of frequency).
Gulf, Saudia and Kuwait also fly in, not sure about other operators.

[christep]

CX flies in to Karachi 3x per week also.