Hijacker of Algerian plane before justice

The hijacker who tried to divert an Air Algerie plane in March 2008 from southern Algeria to Tinerifé in Spain's Canary Islands appeared yesterday before the court of El Harrach on the eastern outskirts of Algiers.

• The 59-year old hijacker who had threatened to blow up the plane with an explosive belt he was supposedly wearing and which finally turned out to be fake had compelled the flight commander to land at Tinerifé in Spain where he was finally arrested by security forces.
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• During his appearance before the court, the defendant tried to exonerate himself of the heavy charges levelled against him arguing that he had been compelled against his will to carry out his hijacking act by members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat –GSPC-.
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• He told the presiding judge that he had received death threats from the GSPC while in prison adding that he needed some more time to gather all the evidence proving his arguments.
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• However, according to the examining magistrate’s investigation, the defendant named (Kh. Abdelhak) had deliberately forged identity papers belonging to the son of his uncle who bears the same name and was involved, in the recent past, in a series of serious legal offenses and misdemeanors abroad including forging of official documents, theft and drugs smuggling notably in Germany, Italy and Norway from where he was expelled.
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