Barcelona
A hijacker brandishing a fake gun seized a Moroccan airliner heading for Tunisia and forced it to land in Spain yesterday before freeing all 81 people on board and surrendering.
The hijacker, a 45-year-old Moroccan described by officials as ''mentally unstable'', had demanded the Royal Air Maroc plane be refuelled in Barcelona and then fly on to Frankfurt, Germany.
But after five hours of negotiations, he freed his hostages unharmed and gave himself up to police without a struggle.
''The most important thing was to try to get a peaceful resolution,'' National Police negotiator Carlos Rubio told a news conference. ''Intervention is always the last resort.''
Spanish officials said the man was a farmer from the area around Meknes in central Morocco who might have been desperately trying to emigrate to Europe, a dream shared by many poor North Africans.
But David Bonet, spokesman for the Catalonian regional government, said the motive was unclear because the hijacker kept changing the story he was telling investigators.
Hours after their release, the passengers, who won praise for staying calm during the drama, were put on another Royal Air Maroc plane and flown to their original destination, Tunis.
A group of psychologists accompanied the passengers on the flight to Tunisia to help with any stress they might suffer, a Spanish government official said.
Officials said the hijacker would be held in Barcelona to face air piracy charges, expected to be filed today.-Reuters
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