JET HIJACKER SURRENDERS IN N.Y.

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993                   TAG: 9302120094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short
JET HIJACKER SURRENDERS IN N.Y.
A gunman hijacked a jetliner with 104 people aboard Thursday and forced it from Austria to New York, where he quickly surrendered.
No one was injured during the 11-hour ordeal, the first trans-Atlantic hijacking in more than 16 years. Seven Americans were among the passengers on the Lufthansa plane.
Hours after the hijacker surrendered, there was confusion over his identity. German and U.S. officials said he was a Somali national seeking asylum in the United States; New York City police and a source from another law enforcement agency said he was a student from Morocco.
The hijacker had made three demands, city police Detective Dominick Misino said: that the plane go to Kennedy International Airport, that he receive political asylum and that the United States intervene in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The man hijacked the plane at gunpoint over Austria during a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to two African cities. The plane was diverted to Hanover, Germany, where it was refueled. German officials said they allowed it to take off for New York because the gunman threatened to kill hostages.
The hijacker, who had a pistol, gave assurances he would surrender once he arrived in the United States, German authorities said.
The source said hostage negotiators in Kennedy's control tower talked with the man during the flight, and he remained "very calm and very cooperative during negotiations."
James Fox, the FBI's New York bureau chief, said the hijacker would be arraigned today on an air piracy charge, which carries a potential jail sentence of 20 years to life.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB