Hijacker of Moroccan airliner surrenders, all passengers and crew safe

A man who hijacked on Wednesday night a plane of the Moroccan flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc, surrendered to the police security this morning after releasing all the passengers.

The Moroccan Boeing 737 plane, which was on a scheduled flight from Casablanca to Tunis, was forced Wednesday evening to divert its route to Barcelona.

A communique issued by the Moroccan airliner says all the passengers who departed from Casablanca heading for Tunis were flown safely to their destination aboard another plane.

Press reports say that a deranged man armed with a toy pistol had forced the Moroccan plane to land in Barcelona. He demanded that the plane refuel to continue his route to Frankfurt, but after negotiations he surrendered and let all passengers go unharmed.