Wed, Oct 25, 2006
Government Report Believes Attempt Was Test Of Cockpit
Security
Are Arab Muslim terrorists still considering hijacking
airliners? That seems to be the conclusion of the Czech
counter-intelligence service (BIS) who has just released its annual
report on terrorism in the Czech Republic.
Reuters reports that while the attempted hijacking incident was
limited to a single paragraph in the report, it says three Egyptian
men tried to break into the cockpit of a Czech Airlines plane last
year on a flight from Oslo to Prague.
"They did not use any violence, the stewards stopped them and
they made an excuse that they were looking for a stewardess and
that they wanted to buy chewing gum," a BIS spokesman said.
Not getting their chewing gum, the suspected terrorists also
didn't get to stay in the country and were immediately deported to
Egypt.
The Czech Republic has a small military unit in Afghanistan and
a few police advisors in Iraq, but until now, the country has not
been targeted by Muslim extremists.
Reuters continues that the security agency said it suspected the
attempted break-in might have been a test of cockpit security and
that Muslim terrorists may have been planning a hijacking during
the Jewish High Holy Days from September 23 through October 15.
Prague has a small Jewish population, principally centered in
the historic Jewish quarter that is just a tiny fraction of what
was once a vibrant community before being virtually wiped out by
the Nazis in WWII.
It is believed by some terrorism analysts that
crashing an airliner into Jewish landmarks or symbols of the
"decadent West" is still very much a priority for some Muslim
terrorist groups.
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