Failed high -jacking attempt of a Jordanian plane to Damascus
Jordan-Syria, Politics, 7/6/2000

A high ranking Jordanian official has announced that the Jordanian security forces foiled on Wednesday an attempt to high-jack a Jordanian passengers plane on its way to Damascus. The incident resulted in killing the kidnapper who was carrying a Syrian passport and wounding of 15 passengers.

The Jordanian official said that one Syrian man tried to kidnap the Jordanian royal airlines plane which was on Wednesday night on her way to Damascus, with the aim, expectedly, to seek asylum in a European state, presumed to be Germany.

Earlier, the Jordanian sources said that the security forces wounded two of the kidnapper's friends, noting the possibility that the kidnappers are three or four.

The Jordanian official said that the kidnapper is called Mahmoud Rizq Deib and he "acted on his own and had no political inclination."

The official said the kidnapper was carrying a pistol and an old bomb and tried to break into the plane's cabin, but the two security men who were on the board of the plane killed him.

Mahmoud Rizq Deib arrived on Tuesday in Amman from Syria, where he had left his wife following a " row." On Wednesday evening he used the Jordanian plane which heads for Damascus accompanied by his two children and his brother, according to the same Jordanian official.

The same source revealed that this Syrian citizen had " several problems in Syria, where he was jailed for being involved in a criminal crime and he was intending to kidnap the Plane to take it to a European state, which is expected to be Germany where he had spent several years, to ask for asylum."

The kidnapping attempt was carried out just a little time after the Plane had taken off from Amman at 22,00 hours ( Jordanian local time) " 19.00 GMT" Sources stressed that 15 of the 84 passengers, including the captain were wounded.

Several passengers said they heard fire bullets and saw smokes coming from the Plane cabin, just 33 minutes before the plane to reach Damascus. They said that the pilot of the plane returned back to Jordan after the end of the kidnapping operation.

Previous Stories:
  Free zone area opened between Jordan and Syria   (7/4/2000)
  Jordanian- Syrian relations are for the best, minister says   (6/14/2000)
  Hawatemah asked for Jordanian protection against threats   (6/3/2000)

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